Thread: The Libyan Crisis

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Isn't Sarko up for re-election soon?

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Isn't Sarko up for re-election soon?

he is trying to, he is highly unpopular, him and his whore have become quite annoying

everyone in France is not buying the Libya bullshit, and they might lead to more terrorist attacks for France

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

That sends a message to the rest of them - don't even think about doing a deal with Washington and their shirt-lifter Public School Boy friends in London

that message has been quite clear since Saddam was betrayed by the Americans

shirt-lifter Public School Boy friends in London, hahaha, that's perfectly appropriate, have a green

Originally Posted by Butterfly

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

That sends a message to the rest of them - don't even think about doing a deal with Washington and their shirt-lifter Public School Boy friends in London

that message has been quite clear since Saddam was betrayed by the Americans

shirt-lifter Public School Boy friends in London, hahaha, that's perfectly appropriate, have a green

I'm sorry, that's an outrageous slur. Many of today's career politicians came from those awful comprehensive schools. They never had the character-building benefit of a good prefect-administered buggering in the showers after rugger practice.

Originally Posted by Butterfly

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Isn't Sarko up for re-election soon?

he is trying to, he is highly unpopular, him and his whore have become quite annoying

Is it true Strauss-Kahn may challenge him for Presidency?

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Is it true Strauss-Kahn may challenge him for Presidency?

he might, they have nobody left from the socialists, he is the only hope, but at the same time he enjoys his work and prestige at the IMF, so not sure he will come back

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Originally Posted by Butterfly

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Isn't Sarko up for re-election soon?

he is trying to, he is highly unpopular, him and his whore have become quite annoying

Is it true Strauss-Kahn may challenge him for Presidency?

France could have another Jewish El Presidente? I didn't know the Jews still had such a hold on France.....

NATO strives to end split over Libya command - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Road gets rough for diplomacy on Libya

No consensus yet on NATO takeover of campaign in Libya as Turkey remains concerned over potential civilian casualties.

Last Modified: 24 Mar 2011 13:38


Following a UN vote, Western warplanes are enforcing a no-fly zone in Libya [REUTERS]

As the international military and financial campaign against longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi continues, diplomats are finding it difficult to forge consensus.

A NATO summit in Brussels entered its fourth day on Thursday, while the Western military alliance's overall commander, US admiral James Stavridis, remained in Turkey in a bid to convince leaders there to join the campaign.

Ambassadors from NATO's member states have been unable to decide which countries will take the lead in the international operation or whether NATO will take the lead at all. The United States is eager to step back from its command role and has been promising a new plan for days.

All 28 members of NATO must reach agreement before the alliance makes a decision about participating, and Turkey has so far rejected taking part unless it is given assurances that the operation will be limited to protecting civilians, enforcing an arms embargo and a no-fly zone, and providing humanitarian aid.

"It is a framework that is not offensive," foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday.

That framework would likely limit coalition air strikes on Gaddafi's ground forces, which were crucial for the survival of Benghazi, the opposition's eastern stronghold. It would also preclude the bombing of military installations not connected to Libya's air defences, such as naval bases, which have also been struck.

The Libyan national opposition council based in Benghazi has called for more aggressive actions from international forces, but given the diplomatic opposition in Brussels, that's unlikely to happen.

Turkey fears the repercussions of civilian casualties, said Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee, reporting from Brussels.

Such an incident is far from unavoidable, and the lessons of Kosovo hover in the background: On April 14, 1999, NATO aircraft repeatedly bombed a convoy of refugees, many of them riding on tractors, killing 73 civilians and wounding 36 others on the road between the towns of Djakovica and Decane. NATO pilots had apparently mistaken the convoy for a military one or had believed there were military vehicles in it.

"Now try and imagine what would happen if Turkey, as a member of NATO, was involved in a campaign over Libya and a similar a similar situation happened to a convoy of civilians outside Benghazi or Ajdabiya," Lee said. "That's exactly why they're concerned."

Perhaps in an effort to sway the Turks, Stavridis met with Turkish military leaders in Ankara on Thursday, a day after talking with the foreign minister. Stavridis' visit to Davutoglu came as part of a larger diplomatic offensive: The foreign minister also spoke with NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and UK foreign secretary William Hague on Wednesday night.

Critical voices

The need to forge a consensus on Libya that involves Turkey and retains Arab support becomes more critical each day, as the voices against foreign intervention grow louder.

Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa has already backtracked on support for the intervention, suggesting on Sunday it had gone beyond what the League approved before flip-flopping and throwing his support behind the action a day later in a meeting with UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

The Arab League will meet for an emergency session on Tuesday, where its approval of the action and the participation of at least one member state, Qatar, will face a test. London will host an international conference the same day to plot the way forward in Libya.

Hague said the conference will establish a "contact group" on Libya and assess the implementation of the Security Council resolution.

France has proposed an alternative arrangement to sole NATO control - the formation of a steering committee comprising foreign ministers from participating countries and including the Arab League. That proposal has yet to receive either forceful support or dismissal.

And Turkey isn't the only source of opposition causing delays within NATO. Germany has also proven to be an obstacle, abstaining from the United Nations Security Council vote that initially approved the no-fly zone and, on Wednesday, reportedly refusing to help enforce the international arms embargo on Libya.

But the United States remains eager to hand over command and control of the operation to allies, especially as international criticism grows. President Barack Obama said on Monday that the transfer would take place "within days," and defence secretary Robert Gates has said he expects the US to begin scaling back its soon.

China, India and Russia, which all abstained from the Security Council vote, have repeatedly criticised the military action, and remaining in the lead exposes the United States to that disapproval.

China's foreign ministry reiterated its call for a ceasefire on Thursday, warning that the conflict could escalate and "worsen the situation region-wide".

"We believe that the objective of enforcing the UN Security Council resolution is to protect humanitarian (objectives) and not to create an even bigger humanitarian disaster," spokesman Jiang Yu said.

The three nations, as well as South Africa and Brazil, are expected to raise their concerns at the Security Council meeting on Thursday, where Ban will deliver a briefing on the operation.

South African president Jacob Zuma said his country "rejected any foreign intervention, whatever its form". Thought some observers thought South Africa would abstain at the Security Council last week, it voted in favour of resolution 1973.

In an interview on Thursday, Ban rejected concerns that the operation would stall or reach a quagmire.

"I think this is different than other situations," he said. "I believe that the international coalition will have a successful operation."

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

BBC News - Libya: France 'shoots down pro-Gaddafi plane'

24 March 2011 Last updated at 14:58 GMT
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged all sides in Libya to cease hostilities. "All those who violate international humanitarian and human rights law will be held fully accountable," his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Including the "crusader coalition mercenaries" leaders?

Originally Posted by OhOh

The threat is from La Pen's daughter.

She looks like a 'performer' from a Kink.Com shoot to me. Does she have tattoos (and a ball-gag)?

REUTERSFLASH ReutersBreakingNews

Libyan rebels kill 30 govt snipers in Misrata, manage to reach entre of town - rebel spokesman

BBC news have just reported that it has been agreed in London that NATO will take charge of military operations in Lybia.

The US has its get out.
The noose may tighten on Sarcozy.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

French warplanes have shot down a Libyan plane in the first incident of its kind since enforcement of the UN no-fly zone began, a US official said.

Is this the same merikan who announced that the "crusader coalition mercenaries" had destroyed all Libyan Government planes earlier in the day.

there is some speculation that the plane shot down by the French was in fact an "unarmed civilians" plane not the Libyan Governments.

It seems we may have a new thread of "French Friendly Fire", they do like their new authority as war mongers don't they.

Yes I'm sure you are correct. It's bound to be a neutral plane filled with black disabled muslim women and children....likely being evacuated from the hospitals and orphanages we bombed the day before. That's what us western military cursaders are trained to do. I remember it well....long hours of hospital and orphanage identification exercises. We always try to kill goat herders and their kids too....it has considerable strategic advantages for a modern well equipped military force.........the tanks, AA batteries. C & C centers and the like are the real collateral damage... we sometimes hit them by accident when targeting the innocent civilians.
I thought everybody knew that.....

Originally Posted by koman

I thought everybody knew that....

oh don't worry, we know it

Originally Posted by OhOh

there is some speculation that the plane shot down by the French was in fact an "unarmed civilians" plane not the Libyan Governments.

Who the fcuk would fly a civilian plane in a 'no fly zone' ?

This will all end in tears of course, but it was just the excuse the western powers have been looking for to give Ghadaffi a boot up the arse.

Originally Posted by Butterfly

Originally Posted by koman

I thought everybody knew that....

oh don't worry, we know it

Sorry, I forgot to add; village weddings, funerals, mosques, schools and any gatherings of people clearly identified as innocent civilians.... no self respecting crusader pilot would avoid such targets.... why waste a half million dollar missile on a comms center when you can take out a village wedding or a prayer meeting?
All military hardware is just targets of opportunity for those occasions when no innocent civilians are out and about...

LePen is no danger, like her father, she is only appealing to a certain demographics

Sarko has alienated the centre right, he is fucked, and those who voted for him are absolutely furious and feel betrayed

after the Bethancourt scandal of this summer, he was said not to run again. But him being a political snake, it's hard to believe anything he says.

In true Hungarian style (his origin), he is a small dictator in the making

how's Gadhafi's cease fire doing ?

UAE commits 12 planes to Libya despite Bahrain

After its earlier pull out from Odyssey Dawn

UAE commits 12 planes to Libya despite Bahrain

Friday, 25 March 2011


UAE will send six F-16 and six Mirage aircrafts to patrol the no-fly zone over Libya

DUBAI (AFP) The United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. ally, said it has committed six F-16 and six Mirage fighters to help enforce the no-fly zone over Libya, despite reservations linked to unrest in Bahrain.

"UAE participation in the patrols will commence in the coming days," Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan announced, quoted by state news agency WAM late on Thursday.

"In support of U.N. Resolution 1973, the UAE is fully engaged with humanitarian operations in Libya," he said.


What’s going on in Bahrain is much beyond our Western allies to understand it. It is a complete conspiracy of the Iranians Major General Khaled al-Buainnain


"As an extension of those humanitarian operations, the UAE air force has committed six F-16 and six Mirage aircraft to participate in the patrols that will enforce the no-fly zone now established over Libya."

A former UAE air force commander said earlier this week that his country had delayed its military deployment because of disagreements with the West over the unrest in Bahrain.

Major General Khaled al-Buainnain, quoted in Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper, said the disagreement stemmed from the conviction of Arab states in the Gulf that Iran had stirred the troubles in Bahrain.

The Arab monarchies in the oil-rich region, traditional allies of Washington and the West, have been "supporting Bahrain, and they were not happy at all with the European and American attitude," he told the English-language daily.

"They (the West) think it’s a matter of a civil movement, a matter of democracy," he said. "What’s going on in Bahrain is much beyond our Western allies to understand it. It is a complete conspiracy of the Iranians."

The general said the main reason for the UAE’s reluctance over Libya was "because the Europeans and Americans in particular don’t realise the amount of the threat available in Bahrain."

He pointed to what he called Washington's unsteady and shifting response to the fast-moving Arab revolts.

"Go and see the European, and especially the American attitude, toward Tunisia. How many positions in a few days?" Buainnain asked. "On Egypt, how many official statements in three, four weeks."

A Shiite-led revolt against the Sunni royal family which has ruled Bahrain for more than two centuries has set off alarm bells in the oil-rich monarchies of the Gulf that have sent in a joint Gulf contingent.

Bahraini security forces last week demolished a demonstrators' camp set up in central Manama's Pearl Square, since when an uneasy calm has returned to the capital and its financial district.

Clashes between security forces and protesters since February 14 have killed at least 15 people, most of them demonstrators.

In Washington, a U.S. official said on Thursday that his country was "deeply appreciative" of the contribution of its UAE ally to the international campaign in Libya.

With Arab states appearing slow to contribute, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week that Washington expected "more announcements" of Arab participation in the days ahead.

On Wednesday, five days after the United States, Britain and France launched air strikes to protect Libyans from Muammar Gaddafi's security forces, Qatar was the only Arab state to have offered warplanes for the no-fly zone.

The 22-member Arab League endorsed the no-fly zone before Western warplanes under Security Council Resolution 1973 launched attacks on the air defenses of Gaddafi's forces fighting an armed revolt.