Quote:
Originally Posted by Regorium
What would they strike if UN monitors go into Libya and find that Gadhafi is adhering to the ceasefire and that there are no flights happening?
And my other question is: if the rebels counter attack into a "Gadhafi-held" city, does the UN bomb the rebels to protect civilians as per the resolution? Or do they provide air-support for the rebels to oust Gadhafi?
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Well, the news right now seems to be that Ghaddafi is saying one thing while his hands are doing another. Sporadic fighting seems to be ongoing. Like those in power have said, words about cease-fires mean little; actions are what they're looking for. It also seems that Obama is looking for a cease-fire more than an actual fight -- it appears the US is not willing to submit troops or jets to the no-fly zone, and is looking to only back it diplomatically and with AWACS and the such while allowing other nations to take the lead militarily. If a cease-fire truly takes effect (Ghaddafi has never earned trust from anyone, remember, so I take what his regime says very lightly), I believe Obama would prefer it over a fight.
Your second question is kind of the kicker. No one can answer that except for those in power. They need to have an answer to what is the ultimate objective of this no-fly zone. Is it to simply get a cease-fire? Oust Ghaddafi? Assist the rebels in their fight? What?
That being said, Ghaddafi has far more heavy equipment than the rebels have, and it's kind of difficult to fire 152mm self-propelled artillery in a city and not kill some people. The rebels will be doing more small-arms fighting, and it will be difficult (perhaps conveniently so) to distinguish a rebel from a regular civilian. If rebel = civilian (which it did at the beginning of these protests -- remember, they didn't take up arms until Ghaddafi's forces started machine-gunning), than I don't think France, Britain, etc., will be doing much bombing of them. Only one side has shown the desire to drop bombs on cities, and if the rebels aren't indiscriminately laying waste to towns, than I don't think they'll be stopped by the those manning the no-fly zone. You might even have Ghaddafi-controlled towns rise up now and join them peacefully if the regime is successfully neutered, and there won't be a need for any sort of rebel counter-attack.