Libya headed for civil war? Update: Gadhafi dead

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by billybob123

Turkey is not an Arab country. Turks aren't Arabs.

I read that the US/UK fired 112 Tomahawk missiles - at a cost of at least $569,000 (1999 price) that's nearly $64 million all at once.

Jeez, that's a lotta dough.

Yes, I realize Turks aren't Arabs. I should have a paragraph break. Turkey is not keeping their participation a secret, unlike the Arab states. Turkey has wanted into the EU for a long time -- not really much reason for them to be hiding their affiliation.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by billybob123

Turkey is not an Arab country. Turks aren't Arabs.

I read that the US/UK fired 112 Tomahawk missiles - at a cost of at least $569,000 (1999 price) that's nearly $64 million all at once.

Jeez, that's a lotta dough.

Call it a wise investment in the winning side.

You could also call it a rounding error in the combined defence budgets of the participants.

Cowperson

[Bagor]

3 great shots at 35-48 second mark.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12794589

You can see the pilot ejected.

[HPLovecraft]

*Three B-2 stealth bombers flying non-stop from the United States have dropped 40 bombs on a major Libyan airfield tonight in an attempt to destroy much of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's air force, CBS News David Martin reports.

At the same time, US Air Force fighter jets conducted missions searching for Libyan ground forces to attack. No US aircraft were lost during the missions.

From the CBS news blog.

[PIMking]

I wouldn't be surprised if the B-1 Bombers aren't making the trip too. When I was in Rapid City with Katie her bro-in-law is in the AF at Ellsworth AFB and the B-1's were making trips to Iraq and Iran. Every plane left the airbase was loaded with product just in case while doing maneuvers over the US that they could drop the boom on some poor taliban sob

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by billybob123

Turkey is not an Arab country. Turks aren't Arabs.

I read that the US/UK fired 112 Tomahawk missiles - at a cost of at least $569,000 (1999 price) that's nearly $64 million all at once.

Jeez, that's a lotta dough.

lol a lot of money? That's a lotto max jackpot some old lady in Ontario could win with a $5 ticket. It's nothing for a nation.

[billybob123]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

Yes, I realize Turks aren't Arabs. I should have a paragraph break. Turkey is not keeping their participation a secret, unlike the Arab states. Turkey has wanted into the EU for a long time -- not really much reason for them to be hiding their affiliation.

Fair enough - I misundersood your statement. It's rather shameful how most of these neighbour countries who couldn't wait to wipe out Ghadaffi are now hiding in the shadows. He doesn't have any Arab friends, but my guess is that these countries don't want to stir up the Al-Qaeda types by going with the west.

Just read that the Arab League is starting to back away from support.

Screwed up region.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Sliver

lol a lot of money? That's a lotto max jackpot some old lady in Ontario could win with a $5 ticket. It's nothing for a nation.

Lets say that the US has to shoulder the entire burden of paying for that. That's still about 25 cents per citizen... all used in once instance for JUST those missiles.

Costs add up very, very quick.

[Bigtime]

The American's have a PSYOP plane up in the area now:

REAKING: PSYOPS is running! USAF EC-130J tail nr 00-1934 callsign STEEL 74 transmitting messages to #Libya on HF freq

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by billybob123

Fair enough - I misundersood your statement. It's rather shameful how most of these neighbour countries who couldn't wait to wipe out Ghadaffi are now hiding in the shadows. He doesn't have any Arab friends, but my guess is that these countries don't want to stir up the Al-Qaeda types by going with the west.

Just read that the Arab League is starting to back away from support.

Screwed up region.

No, it was my mistake. I didn't use paragraphs.

But, yeah, the Arab league reconvening over this is pretty sad. You would think they would have known asking for a no-fly zone would entail bombing of SAM sites. Bunch of wafflers!

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Lets say that the US has to shoulder the entire burden of paying for that. That's still about 25 cents per citizen... all used in once instance for JUST those missiles.

Costs add up very, very quick.

There has been some talk of the Arab nations that supported this action, instead of contributing militarily, contributing monetarily, instead, and footing the bill. Who knows if they'll do that now, though.

Edit:

France says Qatar will join the international operation against Gaddafi within hours.

Laurent Teisseire, the French defense ministry spokesman, said Qatar war planes would join the operation alongside French jets and called Qatar a "historic partner" of France in the Arab world.


Speaking to reporters in Paris, Teisseire said the Qatari contribution would come "in the hours to come."

France is really pushing Qatar. Some of these Western nations have to be sick of waiting for other nations to come forth and announce their intentions.

[CaptainCrunch]

Sounds like the Arab league is very unhappy as they didn't understand that the establishment of a NFZ included military air strikes on ground targets.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Sounds like the Arab league is very unhappy as they didn't understand that the establishment of a NFZ included military air strikes on ground targets.

Lebanon had a leading role in formulating the resolution, they knew the wording of the thing. I think the Arab League is just getting cold feet after inviting the US into their back yard.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by billybob123

Turkey is not an Arab country. Turks aren't Arabs.

I read that the US/UK fired 112 Tomahawk missiles - at a cost of at least $569,000 (1999 price) that's nearly $64 million all at once.

Jeez, that's a lotta dough.

Turkey is a Muslim country and one of the reasons why they wont be allowed into the EU. They're also being compared to the Mexico of Europe.

[HPLovecraft]

You know what is slightly frightening?

Libyan air defenses were touted as the 2nd best in the area, "only" behind Egypt, but they appear to have been effectively neutered in a single night by about 1% of the United State's cruise missile supply and electronic jamming. The British only had one ship launch them -- the rest were US subs and boats.

Bad ass.

[IliketoPuck]

Yea, the States war machine is pretty scary when it gets to unleash the technological advantage.

I'm sure there are weapons in the arsenal that are just sitting there as their defacto "Check-mate" move, that we have never even heard of.

[sclitheroe]

If the goal of the no-fly-zone is to eliminate airborne attacks on civilians, what does this mean on the ground? Are the non-military combatants (I don't honestly know whether to call them civilians, revolutionaries, rebels, etc) able to hold their own against a mechanized army?

Also, if the non-military combatants had airpower, would the no-fly zone apply to them as well?

I'm trying to figure out how anyone expects this to be resolved without either putting boots on the ground, or simply smashing the Libyan armed forces from above - both of which seem pretty close to a plain ol' invasion..

[Barnes]

There were some sightings of the new EA-18g's in Italy. These are the navy's prowler replacements built on the superhornet.

[mykalberta]

The US should not be participating in this. For 8 years the Euro Trash said the US shouldnt be the Worlds police.

This is an internal Libiyan conflict and the the US should have no part, if the Euros want to police the world so be it.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

The US should not be participating in this. For 8 years the Euro Trash said the US shouldnt be the Worlds police.

This is an internal Libiyan conflict and the the US should have no part, if the Euros want to police the world so be it.

The UN made the resolution international law. It's an international issue now.