Bing West: If Your Ambassador Has Been Killed Or Captured You Don’t Ask “Mother May I” Before You Cross The Border

WNU Editor: Bing West sums it up best at 1:40 in the report.

“For the United States military to say that they were 480 miles away and they couldn’t do anything, and they couldn’t move one aircraft in 8 hours? I’d say it’s time to relieve a lot of people in the chain of command… If your ambassador has been either killed or captured, and is missing at the hands of terrorists, you do not ask any country for “Mother may I?” before you come across the border to save your own.’”

And while I still doubt that the U.S. military could have changed what happened on the ground, it infuriates me that they still did not at least try.

Update: Bing West has a must read post on the Libyan debacle here.

A Look At Libya One Year After Gaddafi

 

Libya: A Year After Gaddafi -- Al Jazeera 

Faced with the threat from armed militias, we ask if the country is on track to complete the transition to democracy. A year ago Libyans celebrated the end of Muammar Gaddafi's rule. He was captured and killed on October 20, 2011. Although the country's prospects seemed bright back then, its transition to democracy has been far from easy. Libya is facing profound challenges - most notably the threat from armed militias. The current fighting over the city of Bani Walid, which was a Gaddafi stronghold, is the latest example. Government-aligned militias are battling armed groups who claim to be Gaddafi loyalists.  

Read more ....  

My Comment: Bottom line .... Libya is still a mess .... but .... at least there is some hope that life will get better.

With Gaddafi Dead, Is Libya's Civil War Over?

With Muammar Qaddafi Killed, Is Libya's War Over? -- Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor

Muammar Qaddafi was killed today by guerrillas near his hometown. His death dramatically limits the chances of a long-running insurgency in Libya.

The details of Muammar Qaddafi's death are still trickling out of Sirte. While the full circumstances of his killing aren't yet clear, beyond the fact that he appeared to meet his end at the hands of Libyan revolutionaries, a new chapter in Libyan history has been opened.

Read more ....

My Comment: With Gaddafi dead and his remaining sons also either dead or on the run .... this war is now over. The focus for the new government will be on how to win the peace, and in a tribal society like Libya's .... with a long history of revenge and pent-up hate .... that is not going to be an easy task.

Meet The Ragtag Convoy Of Desperate, Committed Fighters Who Overthrew Gadhafi

The Lightning Advance That Ended Gadhafi's Rule -- Clemens Höges, Spiegel Online

In the end, the fall of Moammar Gadhafi's regime came quickly, after the rebels mounted a lightning advance into Tripoli to finally topple the hated dictator who ruled Libya for 42 years. SPIEGEL followed the ragtag convoy of desperate, committed fighters into the capital.



The man is finally sitting on the fine sandy beach of Tripoli. The sea is calm and the water a deep turquoise blue. He says that he's a very good marksman, and has a black rifle lying across his knees. Now, after all that's happened, it doesn't bother him anymore to shoot black Africans he believes are mercenaries. But shooting Libyans, says Abu Bakr Uraibi, is still difficult for him. And the first time he killed someone was the most difficult of all.



Read more ....



My Comment: If you have the will, moral high-ground, sense of direction and purpose, and determination .... coupled with a little NATO air support and military aid .... these men proved that anything is possible.

Who Are Libya's New International Friends (And Enemies)

Libya’s Rebels Unhappy with Russia and China -- Michael J. Totten, Commentary

No one is an expert on Libya’s rebels, and we haven’t a clue who the next leader of the country will be or how he will be chosen. (Libya is very much a man’s world so the next leader absolutely will be a he.) Even so, small indications about what to expect from the future government do bubble up once in a while.



The Chinese are trying to ingratiate themselves with Libya’s future leaders after opposing the assistance given them by the West, and they’re meeting resistance. “We don’t have a problem with western countries like the Italians, French and UK companies,” says a rebel official in charge of the Agoco oil firm. “But we may have some political issues with Russia, China and Brazil.”



Read more ....



My Comment: You can also throw into this mix countries like Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and a whole host of African nations. They were Kadafi's most loyal supporters, and it will take a long time before this is forgotten by the new government in Libya. Russia's RT is (of course) voicing another opinion.

A Few Thought About Gaddafi And Libya

A Few Caveats About Qaddafi and Libya -- Max Boot, Commentary

Muammar Qaddafi’s rule, which began nearly 42 years ago, appears to be in its death throes. Rebels have entered Tripoli, and if news accounts are to be believed, the regime’s defenders are collapsing faster than anyone expected. The “ring of steel” Qaddafi had supposedly erected around his capital proved as formidable as all the defenses Saddam Hussein​ had boasted would keep Baghdad safe from an American-led invasion in 2003. This is hardly surprising: Regimes like Qaddafi’s or Saddam’s depend on fear to survive. They have little love or loyalty to call upon. Once the veil of fear protecting the regime is pierced–once it appears its enemies are ascendant–dictators like Qaddafi and Saddam discover how few real friends they actually have.



Read more ....



My Comment: I concur with Max Boot's analysis 100%

Is Air Power Enough To End The Libyan War?

Can Air Power End Libya War? -- CNN

It was supposed to have been over in a few days. World powers would go in with fighter jets and the world's most sophisticated precision-guided weapons to render Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi powerless.

But that's not the way things happened.

As NATO's airstrikes crossed the 100-day mark, analysts blamed a host of faulty assumptions, including success based solely on surgical airstrikes, for a protracted war that some fear could drag on for more months.

Read more ....

My Comment: When the Libyan civil war broke out and Western powers made the decision to support the rebellion, I said in March exactly the same thing that Moni Basu is saying in this CNN post ....

.... "In reality, Libya is divided along lines of clan and tribe, some of whom benefit greatly from Gadhafi, and therefore defend him fiercely," he said. "Any expert on ethnic conflict and intervention could have told the White House that ahead of time."

Libya is a country made up of numerous clans and tribes who do not get along with each other. Gaddafi's genius .... until now .... was that he was able to manipulate and convince these groups that they should support him, and he would then support them.

While Gaddafi has made numerous mistakes, the number one mistake that the Western powers have made stems from not being sensitive to the cultural and social makeup of Libya as well as not being aware that the dissident movement was not capable of overthrowing Gaddafi .... an ignorance that is unfortunately becoming very costly to everyone right now.

In the end .... and the Russians have been saying this since the Libya civil war first started .... Western ground troops will be necessary to not only end the war, but to also prevent the humanitarian disaster that is slowly evolving and becoming a reality in Libya.

What Is Next For Libya?

Colonel Muamar Gaddafi Photo: REUTERS

Tripoli Dispatch: Will Gaddafi Go With A Whimper Or A Bang? -- The Telegraph

There is propaganda on either side, but neither Colonel Gaddafi nor his Nato foes seem to have many new ideas, reports Andrew Gilligan in Tripoli.

At 2am last Thursday, it sounded like curtains for Muammar Gaddafi. Enormous volleys of gunfire broke out across Tripoli, and around the hotel where the foreign press is forced to stay. Armed men charged past in pickup trucks, firing their weapons and wildly honking their horns. Was this the "Saddam statue moment" that Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron have been longing for?

But then it became clear that the flags flying from the trucks were a regime-friendly green, and the pictures taped to the windscreens were of a certain colonel only too familiar to Tripoli residents.

Read more ....

My Comment: A sobering analysis on what is happening in Libya today. Libya has always been a country made up of numerous tribes that for the past 4 decades has been ruled by a dictator. Through miscalculation and forces outside of his control, Gaddafi now finds himself in the position that he is in. But what has saved him is the weakness of his opponents, and a lack of will among NATO members to ratchet up this conflict to the next level so that there would be enough internal Libyan pressure that would force him out.

Will there be a change in NATO policy this summer .... I doubt it .... and the U.S. has made it very clear that they have no interest to become actively involved in this conflict. My prediction .... this war is going to continue for a very long time, and in the end .... because of this bloody stalemate .... Gaddafi will find himself in a position of weakening strength and influence that he will be quietly pushed aside by his family.

NATO's Role In Libya -- A Commentary

The Muddle at the Middle of NATO's Libya Efforts -- Michael Elliott, Time

When considering the mess that the U.S. and its NATO allies have got themselves into in Libya, it's helpful to remember the old story of the Irish traveller who asked a farmer for the quickest way to Dublin. Came the reply: "I wouldn't start from here."

NATO's actions in Libya are authorized under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which, in addition to establishing a no-fly zone, permits "all necessary measures...to protect civilians and civilian authorities under threat of attack." The resolution includes lots of language condemning the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, and identifies the situation in Libya as a "threat to international peace and security," but its objectives are strictly limited: they do not extend to justifying the military overthrow of Gaddafi's regime.

Read more ....

My Comment: I couldn't have said it any better.

The White House Strategy For Libya (A Commentary)

Inside The Intervention -- Steven Metz, New Republic

There’s a clear logic behind Obama’s Libya strategy—but that doesn’t mean it will succeed.

Strategy is a strange beast. Up close—as it is unfolding—even a good strategy can appear muddled, confused, and indecisive. Its logic only becomes clear over time. President Obama’s Libya strategy demonstrates this. It has drawn howls of criticism from across the political spectrum, most of the “muddled, confused, and indecisive” variant. But, when dissected, it does have an internal logic.

Put simply, Obama’s Libya strategy is designed to avoid the most undesirable outcomes rather than optimize the chances of a desired outcome, to do something without “owning” the conflict, to maintain maximum flexibility as the situation evolves, and to do all of this in the face of powerful constraints. The question is whether this strategy can actually work.

Read more ....

My Comment: Trying to fight a war on the cheap .... if President Obama can pull this off .... kudos to him. But my gut is telling me that this is a wishful thinking .... that this war .... like most wars .... will evolve into a conflict that will take a long time to resolve, and sap our resources even further than what was originally planned.

Libyan Rebels Too Weak To Finish Off Gaddafi

U.S. Fears Libyan Rebels Set Up for Defeat Without Greater Western Intervention -- FOX News

Fresh battlefield setbacks by rebels seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi are hardening a U.S. view that the poorly equipped opposition is probably incapable of prevailing without decisive Western intervention -- either an all-out U.S.-led military assault on regime forces or a decision to arm the rebels.

Qaddafi is reaching deeper into his military ranks to send reinforcements onto the battlefield, has adopted new, unconventional tactics to counter the effects of coalition airstrikes, and apparently is convinced he can retain power by gradually retaking a degree of control of eastern Libya, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence on the condition and capabilities of regime and rebel forces.

Read more ....

My Comment: With the growing realization that the rebels are no match for Gaddafi's military, alternative strategies are now being explored to make sure that the fight on the battle field will change in favor of the rebels.

Talk of bolstering the rebel army with private armies (i.e. mercenaries), sending in the CIA, and even supplying the rebels with weapons over Sec. of State Clinton's denials and the objections of a key Congressman .... this is what is now making the rounds among key policy advisers on what to do in Libya.

My prediction .... inevitably there will be boots on the ground from the West in confronting and wiping out Gadaffi. The question that needs to be asked is .... whose boots on the ground will they belong to.

What Would Be The Scenario If Gaddafi Had Nuclear Weapons? (A Commentary)

Photo: Muammar Qaddafi

What If Gadhafi Had Gone Nuclear? -- Michael oren, Wall Street Journal

The Libya experience highlights the risk of letting dangerous regimes—like Iran's—gain the world's most powerful weapons.

America and its allies, empowered by the United Nations and the Arab League, are interceding militarily in Libya. But would that action have been delayed or even precluded if Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had access to nuclear weapons? No doubt Gadhafi is asking himself that same question.

Read more ....

My Comment: If Libya had nuclear weapons, there definitely would be no foreign intervention in Libya's civil war right now.

These Are Our Allies In Libya?

ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images

Jihadis Who Fought U.S. In Iraq, Afghanistan Now Enjoy American Support In Libya -- Byron York, Washington Examiner

Evidence is emerging that United States forces are waging war in Libya on behalf of rebels whose ranks include jihadis who fought against the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Britain's Daily Telegraph reports that Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, a leader of U.S.-supported rebel forces in the fighting around Adjabiya, went to Afghanistan in 2002 to fight against the "foreign invasion" -- that is, U.S. troops who invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11 attacks. The Telegraph says al-Hasidi told an Italian newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore, that he was captured in 2002 in Peshawar, Pakistan. "He was later handed over to the U.S., and then held in Libya before being released in 2008," the Telegraph reports. Al-Hasidi also told the Italian paper he recruited about 25 Libyan men to fight against U.S. forces in Iraq.

Read more ....

My Comment: So .... we are using our military to depose Libyan leader Gaddafi even though our U.S. Secretary for Defense admits there are no 'vital interests' for the U.S. in this country. And as to the 'vital interests' that are there .... they are primarily European with little if any U.S. presence. And as to Al Qaeda .... most observers say that they have a presence in Libya, but U.S. officials say their numbers are small and insignificant.

I wish President Obama the best to explain all of this to me when he gives his speech to the nation tonight.

Is Air Power Enough To Bring Down Gaddafi?

Air Power Could Be Enough In Libya -- Wall Street Journal

A no-fly zone alone won't do the job. We'll have to go after Gadhafi's tanks and artillery with precision munitions.

The military operations against the Gadhafi regime in Libya appear to be going well. But going where? To succeed, military leaders need clearly defined goals that can be achieved by the use of force. You need to know what you are tasked to accomplish, and then you can evaluate pertinent factors such as friendly and enemy capabilities, terrain and weather to define a strategy.

Read more ....

My Comment: A no-fly zone is not enough to bring down Gahdafi. In the end .... boots on the ground will be necessary to provide the precision and accuracy that smart bombs can bring to a war zone, as well as the need to provide greater logistical and armament support to rebel groups and their forces.