What, You Thought The U.S. Was Done Bombing Libya?

[Feuer Frei!]

U.S. pilots are doing exactly what the Obama administration promised they wouldn’t be doing after NATO took command of the Libya war: bombing Libya. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, never an enthusiast for this third simultaneous U.S. conflict, pledged to Congress that America’s combat commitment to Libya stopped when NATO came to lead what’s now called Operation Unified Protector. Pressure from senators led him to qualify that U.S. warplanes would be on “standby” if NATO pilots felt overwhelmed. They’ve apparently felt overwhelmed.
Pentagon officials confirm to NBC News that U.S. pilots have attacked Libyan air defenses three times in the past week. They’ve not hit Moammar Gadhafi’s ground forces, the ones that continue to attack rebel positions and Libyan civilians. And the Pentagon swears it’s kept its pledge to remain in a “supporting” role for NATO by pointing to that distinction.
“We do not characterize those as ’strikes,’ because [air defense suppression] is considered a defensive, vice offensive, mission,” said Col. David Lapan, a Defense Department spokesman.
You decide if that’s a distinction without a difference. The mantra from the Obama administration was that the U.S. contribution to the hot end of the war in Libya would last for “days, not weeks.” According to Lapan, six F-16s, supported by five of the Navy’s EA-18 Growler jamming jets, have flown 97 sorties to suppress Gadhafi’s air defenses since NATO fully took charge of the war without U.S. gunships on April 4.


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[Ducimus]

Air force pilot, Air force pilot, where have you been?
Into Libya and back again!
Air Force Pilot Air Force pilot, what did you see?
A hundred thousand Libyan's.... starin' at me!
Air Force Pilot Air Force Pilot, What did you do?
I bombed Kaduafi for the Red white and blue!

OLD jody call from the first time we bombed Libya with F111's. Don't ask me where I learned this. Your eye's will roll.

[CptSimFreak]

CJ support. Defensive until they open their eyes.

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

“We do not characterize those as ’strikes,’ because [air defense suppression] is considered a defensive, vice offensive, mission,” said Col. David Lapan, a Defense Department spokesman.

The Pentagon may not consider them 'strikes' but the people being blown to smithereens on the ground might beg to differ.

I'd like to know where were getting the money for these bombs, or are we fashioning them together with parts we find in a junkyard.

[Armistead]

When this lil war is over, subtract it's cost from the newest round of budget cuts....Probably will exceed the cuts unless we stick to iron bombs.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Oh bloody hell. This is precisely what I was worried about the last time we discussed this. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have lost the initiative because we allowed the pace of our operations to be dictated by rag-tag Islamic rebels. Now we have to keep bombing Libyan forces in the hopes that our ground-pounding "allies" will make some kind of headway.

I really believed that Obama was trying to do the right thing in this campaign. I still do, in fact. But the right thing is not always the best thing. Win or lose, Libya is not likely to take kindly to our limited intervention. The national forces, should they prevail, are already pissed at us. The rebel forces, should they eventually prevail, are likely to be pissed at us in the near future for not doing enough to help them.

Of course, they'd also likely be pissed at us if we sent in occupational forces and just beat Qadaffi outright. We just can't win with these guys. Nothing we can do is compatible with the militant Islamic mindset. I think we need to re-evaluate our strategy. The easiest way would be to pressure Europe into taking the lead in all operations in the near east and thus shift the wrath of militant Islam onto them, but that's not fair to do to them, even though they are largely responsible for this mess. We could always redirect their wrath onto Israel by abandoning our support for it, but that's not fair to them either, especially considering what good allies they have been.

I'm stumped on this one unless I resort to my "turn the US into a Mega-Switzerland" and "trade with them" arguments, and even that is not likely to sit well with militant Islam. In fact, it may even grow more hostile because it already thinks we're trying to take control of it via economic means.

Other than direct military action to counter direct ideological military action, which I do not endorse, I don't see any good path. What are we to do?

[Castout]

Originally Posted by Armistead

When this lil war is over, subtract it's cost from the newest round of budget cuts....Probably will exceed the cuts unless we stick to iron bombs.

It will not be a long war unless international community is prolonging it for some weird reason.

What's up with many Americans and anti Islam sentiment. They are human being there in Libya. If the international community didn't get themselves involve how would the UN held itself accountable?

There's war that you can opt out there's war that you need to commit to. Libya is one of this that the international community need to step into. These people are people like you and me. If you can't appreciate that they are human being struggling against oppression then you are not worthy of US constitution and human rights yourself.

The sentiment "Oh look Muslim country! Let all of them die" is really annoying and stupid imo. It's the stupid tribalism(race, religion, group) that should have been eradicated with education so I say where is that enlightment?

As time progresses I can't help feeling that people in general have regressed and degenerated. Education should help humanity instead of making them worse off. The problem with education however is that you can get and finish it without being an educated person or an enlightened one in the end. It's like "Dude I finished college so I never have to wait tables so as of other worlds I don't really give a ****". Some aspirations. Where is that mindset that education should have brought? Where is the understanding? Where is that first world mind? What defines a country first world is not its economy or military might but its mind, the greatness of its mind, awareness and aspirations.