Obama has OK'd use of drones in Libya, Gates says
U.S. President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drones in Libya, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.
Gates told CNN the unmanned Predators would allow for "some precision capability" against the forces of longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, and will offer a "modest contribution" to NATO efforts to support Libyan rebels.NATO, meanwhile, has signaled it may ramp up air strikes on Gadhafi's regime. NATO issued a new warning to Libyan civilians to stay away from military areas - foreshadowing plans for attacks on targets seen as strategically significant in stopping the government's attacks against civilians, according to a NATO military official.
Libyan rebels had recently complained that NATO was not being aggressive enough to protect civilians from Gadhafi's forces.
Planes and missiles from a coalition including the United States, the United Kingdom and France began attacking Libyan air-defense targets March 19 in part to establish a no-fly zone. It was authorized by a U.N. Security Council resolution, which approved military action –short of occupation - to prevent Gadhafi's forces from attacking civilians and cities.
The intervention came after a Libyan uprising, which began in mid-February after clashes between government forces and protesters. Opposition forces are seeking the ouster of Gadhafi, who has ruled for nearly 42 years.
FULL STORY
Can anybody tell you WHY we are even there? WE are the ones killing the people of Libya. It is Qaddahfy's country. He is defending it. Why is CNN reporting that we are helping the people? Do you think they want the US there????? NO they don't.
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/killin/
They were NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG. All you hear on the news are things he did BEFORE THE FIRST SANCTIONS. American Oil companies and E&C companies were back to work in Libya building.
People need to know what they are talking about before they start talking. I've been to Libya.
The US and NATO Want something from there, just like in Somalia. Guess What it is!!!!!
Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, and Libya. Did I miss any? How many countries do we have to be in to protect Israel?
I believe this White House wants to be a Dictatorship itself. And they talk about Libya???
in these country is making the way for the Brother hood to take over, so they can come against israel and every
christian.
his ass. So send them in and GET IT OVER WITH AND STOP FU%#ING AROUND.
But no you'd rather complain even though that does nothing...
You don't understand much about our military. Our Predator drones are very limited and require a large support team. Moving Predators to Libya means removing them from somewhere else ..... and also meaning that our troops at that somewhere else have less capability now. We now have holes in our aerial coverage that aren't easily filled. We don't have a bunch of spare Predators lying around waiting to be used. Somewhere our ground troops are now more at risk. Typical Obama move .... he just keeps throwing people under the bus.
We are letting NATO use our drones. The French are sending in troops, the English – 'advisors'. I'm pretty sure they mean to escort Mo out of power. Simple enough?
If I could see a reasonable way to then... Yeah, except there really isn't much you can do in Ugunda, Can't really stop it there.
But I doubt you're Libyan.
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HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!
IS THAT IT? That's the best you can come up with? LOL!!!!!
Actually it's the perfect counterpoint, would your position be the same if you were one of the Libyans? I severely doubt that. That's partly what I was implying from the very beginning. "You're not Libyan so of course you don't care"
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Blah! Don't give me that! You didn't say Libyan, you said brown, as to suggest a racial component. Then when I revealed I'm brown skinned, you changed to being more specific. You got caught!
We ourselves are not living in a democracy, we are living in a “RICHOCRACY”, and we are told we must support these wars to bring about democracy in other countries??? Just think about it, the political candidates in our country, who are able to raise the most money, have the most power before an election, to brainwash the people thru constant ads to vote for them or to use negative campaigning tactics of hate and fear ads to brainwash the people to abstain from voting their opponents, because with more money they can buy more air time just before the elections. So in our system, whoever has more money has more power to win an election. Now after a candidate gets elected in our system, whom do you think they will be working for? You? Or the super rich who paid for their election campaign?
Therefore, we badly need an election finance reform, in which, each candidate gets an equal amount of money to run his/her election campaign which comes out of a common tax payer fund, so that, after the candidate wins, he/she is not obligated to return favors and work for the super rich who paid them money, but would rather work for the common man. Also, because they would get an equal amount of money, they would not win, just because they are able to raise more money than their opponent and are thus able to buy more air time just before an election.
So, all you ordinary people in America reading this post, if you truly want to live in a democracy yourself and want to take back power from the rich, then become united and push hard for an election finance reform immediately. Call your senators and representatives and ask them to bring about this reform if they want you vote for them in the next election.
Which has a less chance of hitting innocent civilians, a fighter jet with 500lb bombs or a small drone with a 20lb missile?
@JustAGuy
If I could see a reasonable way to then... Yeah, except there really isn't much you can do in Ugunda, Can't really stop it there.
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That's it? Throw your hands up and give up without even trying? But Obama is going to bomb Libya back into the stone ages? Are you serious? Obama cited the reason to attack Libya was humanitarian. Then the glaring question is what makes Libya different fromn all the other places where genocide was ocurring?
Reminds me of when Clinton attacked Serbia, but ignored the genocide in Rwanda.
Liars and the lies they tell!!!!!!
Do I believe it is hypocritical? Of course it is. All governments are hypocrites. Everyone's a hypocrite.
And you are completely right about liars and the lies they tell. Obama is no exception.
First you're limiting yourself to aerial bombing. Military operations are FAR more diverse than the simple-minded headline grabine aerial bombing. There's a diverse array of specops assets that can be drawn from.
Then you go to discussing concerns of a PR nightmare.
So you've explained away any reason for any action. It could start with putting the PR nightmare upon the perpetrators of the killing, building a coalition against them amongst the League of African Nations and elsewhere. There's a vast array of things that could be done.
But in the final analysis, all this does is expose Obama's lack of truthfulness and sincerety.
Liars, and the lies they tell!!!!!
Hey queen, go strap some boot on and fight for yourself, this isn't about democracy this is about the sweetest crude in the world! Do you think we'd be dropping bombs if their major export was rice?! Gimme a break, if we need to come to the help for 'humanitarian aid' then there's about 80 countries on the list...and Libya wouldn't be number one either!
Bush went in with a LARGER coalition for the invasion of Iraq than Obama did for Libya....
You speak of UN "approved' operations. Do you even know whom is a member of the UN? Let's see... Syria..Rwanda...Iran.
That's a great group to cite as choosing the "legal" wars right?
Isn't the human rights portion of the human full of African nations slaughtering their people? Why yes it is.
Bush, as pointed out by others, got congressional approval before both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Also Obama signed us up for a "No-Fly zone". I wasn't aware that tanks could fly as they are bombed.
Also Bush handed Afghanistan over to NATO in 2003. NATO placed foreign military forces in Afghanistan in 2001...France and England are also in Afghanistan.. you know the two nations you cite as making it okay to be in Libya...
Also Obama sent an ADDITIONAL 30,000 US military to Afghanistan.. to what you see as an "illegal" war.
So by providing "air defense" which isn't true as UN forces have bombed tanks/personnel of the opposition, they are allowed to help "rebels".
So let's see we have a crazed dictator killing is own people and people want to revolt? Which country are we exactly talking about? Could be Syria, could be a number of African countries or other Arab nations. It could have been Iraq prior to the invasion, it could have been Afghanistan prior to 2001.
even like beer. Hmmmm This administration is the laughing stock of the world.
Unfortunately we don't have a president we have a dictator.
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars were started illegally by the war criminals Bush and Cheney, not Obama. Under U.N. sanction the U.S., France, and England are offering air defense to civilians and provide support for pro-Democracy civilians fighting for their lives in Libya.
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you surely have sucked dowon the kool aid. Do an internet search on S.J.Res.23. That is the congressional authorization on the war on terror. Do a search on H.R.4205. That is the congressional appropriation to finance the war on terror. So stop with the illegal war business.
And also, it is a proven FACT that Al Qaeda is working with your so-called pro-democracy movement.
And you say you decry war, but make excuses for Obama's ILLEGAL war on Libya. You see, unlike Bush, Obama NEVER got congressional authorization!
The Kenyan is playing with fire.
______________TRUMP__________________2012!
The tough guy is notably quiet. Maybe that foot-in-mouth disease of his has limited his speaking ability.
When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.”
~ George Orwell -– http://911essentials.com
*Obama was reluctant to get involved in Libya initially, and was leaning towards doing nothing, until Hillary and two other IRON SKIRTS talked him into taking 'humanitarian action'. It did take a number of days .. dithering to come to a decision.
*Obama then ordered air strikes.
*Louis Farrakhan chewed Obama's rear for having the audacity of fighting an 'African Brother'.
*Obama decides to cease US leadership in Libya.
*Obama advises NATO that the US will no longer be the leader in Libya, and will cease on a given day.
*NATO takes over, and the effort is led by the UK and France.
*Obama advises that 'this is not a war', and that we 'HAVE NOT TAKEN SIDES'.
*HIllary calls for Gaddffi to step down.
*Stalemate ensures.
* and now - Obama announces the use of drones in a nonexistent war against someone or something that we have not sided with?????!!!!!
Could it be that the drones will be used to shoot sick camels?
Just how foolish can one look?? PATHETIC! We are paying the price for electing a neophyte!
Obama, just like the ideologue supreme executive that preceded him, is willing to destroy a country and kill millions if need be because HE decided HE wanted someone else to rule another country. This war is an impeachable offense for which Congress should take action before the American people do.
The media is showing a picture of an injured child, yet this is only 1/100,000th of the death cause by Bush’s “Shock and Awe” campaign in Iraq. The media never showed pictures of the limbless children from Bush’s war of choice. Does the media think Americans are that stupid and irrational that they can now get us to fight a war over what Bush did 100,000 times over?
Then the media tried to play on our sympathy for a dead reporter, but Bush intentionally attacked Al Jazeera and mudered a handful of reporters and not a peep was mentioned. Now we should be up in arms becasue one got too close to the fighting. When Bush had the Al Jazeera reporters killed, they gave their coordinated to the American military so they would not be attacked, and Bush used those coordinates specifically to attack them.
The rebels are a force of 1,500. Many are al Qaeda. They are not wearing uniforms and are placing civilians at risk by hiding behind civilians. This is an international war crime as is hiding behind civilians and in population centers. Why won’t they move into the open and fight like an army? They are not an army, nor are they representative of the people.
They will never consolidate power without foreign occupation. The rebels represent less than .005 % of the population. The advisors ought to tell the rebels to flee. That should be their advice. War for regime change is an international war crime.
Day of Rage in Washington D.C. on 6/30/11
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/462/358/Day_of_Rage_Scheduled_in_Washington_D.C._for_June_30,_2011.html
The American Revolution Has Begun
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/499/546/The_American_Revolution_Has_Begun_-_Rage_In_Washington_D.C..html
Free the Hutaree
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/549/709/Why_American_Citizens_Should_Free_the_Hutaree.html
The shallow minded narcissist-in-chief would think he was OWED it anyway!
Obama, like JFK and LBJ, trying to play General, to NO good end. Funny how liberals are ALWAYS ready to sacrifice the children of OTHERS when their kids NEVER SERVE!
I AM MOOSETEAK7 AND I AM A FLAMING GAY HO-MO!
NUKE ISLAM!
WHOOHOO!
LET HIM CRAP DOWN YOUR BACK SOME MORE !!!!!!!!!
Drone daddy at it again...must be drilling for oil...
The dollar is shrinking and people on a fixed income are now paying the price. When will Obama wake up ??? He must know this is happening !!!
as gas approaches $5 per gallon, motivation for US involvement in this area increases. we will be putting our forces in harms way until and unless, we become energy independent. That is donee by developing our own resources and frugal use of what wwe have. Listen and vote with your mind in 2012!
Nothing like Going to War, with ZERO Consultation or Authorization from Congress. Yeah. GUNG HO!
Nothing like KILLING CIVILIANS in a CIVIL WAR. God, I love it so.
I thought that His Majesty, the African Muslim, who attended Muslim Schools in Indonesia, and didn't come to America until he was 11 years old, was AGAINST all of this?
Do as I say, not as I do.
When do we get some CAKE?
When I read the headline that armed drones were going to Libya, I thought that it would certainly be a good thing as we seem to have more than enough of those union thugs here in the US.
1. Predators will be useless as they were in Serbia '99. They are easy to take down (saw them being hit by "Strela" rocket launched from a guys shoulder) and usually very noisy. Serbian army was able to fight on the ground and destroy Albanian terrorists with almost no casualties in men and armored vehicles (NATO counted 13 destroyed vehicles after 3 months of 24/7 bombing).
2. As far as the purpose of this "humanitarian action" – why is Gadhafi bad guy now and was a buddy for a long time? Is there no other totalitarian regime anywhere else in the world? Or these guys are buddies in this moment? How do you stop a civil war by adding more weapons to it? If you really think NATO's mission is democratic and liberating – you are naive.
I'm seeing so much similarities in Libya to what happened in Serbia '99, that it looks ridicules. Both are executed by the same book, order of events is exactly the same, except instead of Bill now Hilary is running the show. The only thing missing is Monica Lewinsky.
Imagine an America drilling here and now eliminating any need to buy or import foreign oil in the near future.
Imagine America taking in Trillions of dollars from foreign oil buyers. (If we decide to sell some.)
Imagine America NOT sending so much dollars to support our enemies.
Imagine the unemployment rate drop.
Any rational American can see the tremendous upside for Americans.
What is the down side?
We might have a drilling accident bad enough to lose use of a small section of land. (Better than losing the whole country)
Might have to spend a few billion of the trillions we make or save to clean up an accident.
Might see some wonderful animals sacrificed (yes that is important but how many humans are sacrificed now due to oil.)
Many who ACT like they want a job to earn for themself will no longer have an excuse.
Rational Americans will have to bare hearing even more from the irrational envoirmentalist. (We need the rational ones)
Wars where Americas are involved will then happen for only one of two reasons:
1. Protecting America's oil supply from those who would take it by attacking our homeland – us.
2. A lie by our leaders or the press. Ummm .sorry, there isn't a second reason. (regardless of what we are told today)
The same people who loudly scream "save the XYZ furry little whatever" scream even louder when millions around the world are dying for oil.
Anyone knowledgable of the great 20th century wars knows it came down to oil regardless of what some leaders have allowed in the history books.
It will be a sad day when we or our children watch someone raping our land of the vast oil we have. Those who do it will have little if any concern for the enviornment and we will have lost any voice to prevent it. They will simply grin because we were so stupid to have allowed them to become wealthy and save their country at Americans expense.
http://www.complete-privacy.au.tc
Way to perpetuate hate man. With folks like you on this planet war will never cease.