No Fly zone imposed..

[Mickymoody]

So does that mean we are at war AGAIN? Gaddafi won't give up, so if we or the Americans shoot something down, he's likely to send a nuclear bomb to the UK or America? He doesn't care about his people, he's killing them, he won't give in, but if we attack him, he will send a bomb over here. He has the facility for dirty bombs, suicide bombers, or hidden devices, as per the Lockerbie bombing. (Which was a farce, and a scapegoat prosecuted).

So we don't learn a lesson from Ireland troubles, where talking, and releasing of prisoners happened, Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, etc...

History repeating, and no politician to stand up to the bar and say, enough is enough. War. And nobody man enough to say - An end to War,

 

[studips]

Look, the place will be a lot better without flies. bad for the flies yeah, but what's the biggie?

trouble is it looks to me like the nutter will win within the week and then what - unless the arab union goes marching in that's it for libya.

i'm amazed we are talking about a no fly zone, i didn't think we had that kind of money...... or the aircraft come to that.

 

[Whitespirit66]

The last thing we want or can afford is to get involved in another war, or sorting out someone else's problems.

We got stuck into Iraq without a UN mandate, and on the back of Blair Bush lies and a dodgy dossier. Is Iraq any better for it today? Not even sure what is happening out there, it's all gone very quiet on the news. Are they still blowing each other up? The place was more stable before we got involved.

As for Afghanistan, our soldiers are still coming home in body bags, with no end in sight, and very little achieved.

Some of these countries seem to be run by hardline leaders like Saddam Hussain and Gadaffi because that's the only way any semblance of order can be maintained. Then we blunder in there, remove the leader and his regime, then the country descends into civil war as all the tribes settle scores and long-running feuds.

Safer to leave Gadaffi there, let it burn itself out and keep him as leader. That's what we do with Mugabe, but then again, there's no oil in Zimbabwe.

 

[Whitworth]

Would agree with Whitespirit, yet another situation we should keep our nose out of.
I believe the spirit of revolution must come from within. If the Libyans’ are dissatisfied with their current leadership they should rebel against it. Take a leaf from the Egyptians book, respect to them!
If we get involved people will inevitably die and we become the bad guys even if our intentions were good (whole different debate!)
This then makes us a target for religious/political extremists with semtex vests looking for the smallest excuse to kill innocent people they regard as ‘infidels’ anyway.
There has to be the will to change and the realisation that change often involves conflict. There has to be enough will to accept the losses that conflict may entail.
From a layman’s point of view I think most modern democracies were born of conflict and many died in the past for the privileges we enjoy today. Nothing worthwhile in that respect is easy.
I wish the Libyan the best of luck. Also no disrespect intended to genuine religious people who interpret their respective tenets as intended. It’s always the tiny minority who twist the meaning to suit their own twisted agenda that I will never understand.
Rant over Thanks.

 

[joinerjohn]

Starting to look like another war we shouldn't be involved in. As Whitespirit says though, there's oil in them thar deserts, and that seems to be the only justification the West needs to start poking it's nose in. Between Gadaffi and Mugabe, I reckon Mugabe makes Gadaffi look like a boy scout, yet we don't do anything about this tyrant.


Anyway, with the cutbacks, I reckon Cameron will probably send over a couple of Sopwith Camels, or a refurbished Spitfire

PS The Irish , not to be left out are sending 400 cans of Vapona to enforce the no fly zone.

 

[Deluks]

They're wheeling out the old 'attacking his own people' excuse. Which seems to be a rite of passage to interfere in the affairs of oil rich nations.

These 'own people' he's attacking, are these the same ones that are trying to topple him, and that are armed with tanks, artillery and wire guided missiles?

Haven't the UK sold him several million quids worth of weapons including crowd control munitions in recent years? Did we sell them to him on the basis that he wasn't allowed to use them to defend himself?

Libya isn't a democracy, and wasn't when the pictures below were taken.

So why do we care about the 'will of the people' all of a sudden?

(the last pic is Gadaffi's son/Libya's National Security Advisor)

 

[Deluks]

According to the Pentagon, 110 tomahawks just been launched.
Approx cost $500,000 each.

 

[merlin50]

According to the Pentagon, 110 tomahawks just been launched.
Approx cost $500,000 each.

they were old stock and needed replacing

 

[xr4x4]

I ditto comments about not being able to afford to fight someone else's battles.

 

[Whitworth]

Libyan state TV reported that what it called the "crusader enemy" had bombed civilian areas of Tripoli, as well as fuel storage tanks supplying the western city of Misrata.

Crusader Enemy! Great, that will kick off the religious extremists

 

[Deluks]

Libyan state TV reported that what it called the "crusader enemy" had bombed civilian areas of Tripoli, as well as fuel storage tanks supplying the western city of Misrata.

Tripoli??? I thought that Gaddafi's advancing forces were attacking the civilians in Benghazi?? (Approx 1000km to the East of Tripoli)

Looks like those missiles were way off target.

 

[Whitworth]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12796972

 

[imamartian]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12796972

please describe the content of a URl you post... that way i can decide if i want to clcik on it!!

But i agree with the majoriy here... why are we wasting out money getting involved in this... here it's cut cut cut, and then the gvnmt spend millions going to war again in an unwinnable war !!

 

[Deluks]

Unwinnable as in, with no desirable outcome?

1) Gaddafi backs down and behaves. He remains in power.
2) All out war (albeit one sided), makes the west look very bad indeed.
3) He is ousted/killed. Puppet leader put in place. Lots of opposition/terrorism/insurgency etc.
4) Civil war. High loss of life, Libya in tatters, infrastructure destroyed.

Whichever it is, the price of oil will go up again (they'll probably have to add a few pence to the price of petrol in order to pay for this little jolly)

 

[Mickymoody]

Libyan state TV reported that what it called the "crusader enemy" had bombed civilian areas of Tripoli, as well as fuel storage tanks supplying the western city of Misrata.

Crusader Enemy! Great, that will kick off the religious extremists

According to the news the 'Crusader' comment was made by Bush after the 9/11 attacks, by accident. Which has obvioulsly been picked up on, to mean a holy war, and instigate religious war. Our culture is Richard the Lionheart, going to the holy lands, and plundering and killing all in their way, apparently, the East have the opposite view, and see us as murdering evil gits.

But at the moment, the rebels have called a ceasefire, the Government says the same, so it's just us, and other UN nations bombing both sides, as both sides seem to have military hardware.

What a complete disaster, once again! I'm surprised that oil prices haven't again rocketed, as there is a complete embargo on the country. How will their economy exist, with us preventing import/exports? It's not down to us to fail the economy, as who will suffer? The people. And us.

Gaddafi won't quit. Where is it going to go? West Bank scenario?