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U.S. Begins Attack On Libya, Gadhafi
March 19, 2011
American forces launched at least 112 cruise missiles Saturday against Libya’s air defenses, clearing European and other allied aircraft to enforce a no-fly zone to ground Qaddafi’s forces and cripple his ability to inflict further violence on rebels.
Coalition forces launched “Operation Odyssey Dawn” to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 to protect the Libyan people from the country’s ruler.
The goal of the military coalition is to prevent further attacks by regime forces on Libyan citizens, officials said, adding that the coalition also wants to degrade the ability of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime to resist a no-fly zone being implemented.
U.S. military forces are on the leading edge of the coalition operation, taking out Libya’s integrated air and missile defense system, Defense Department officials said. The ordnance is aimed at radars and anti-aircraft sites around the capital of Tripoli and other facilities along the Mediterranean coast.
Operation Odyssey Dawn is commanded by U.S. Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear aboard the command ship USS Mount Whitney. The Mount Whitney joins 24 other ships from Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom and France in launching the operation.
Cruise missiles from U.S. submarines and frigates began the attack on the anti-aircraft system. A senior defense official speaking on background said the attacks will “open up the environment so we could enforce the no-fly zone from east to west throughout Libya.”
In addition to the cruise missiles, the United States will provide command and control and logistics. American airmen and sailors also will launch electronic attacks against the systems.
The United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada already have announced that they are part of the coalition. Officials expect Arab countries will publicly announce their participation soon.
Pictured inset: Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Joint Staff, briefs the press Satirdau on “Operation New Dawn” at the Pentagon. Gortney announced that coalition forces launched the operation to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, which protects the Libyan people from their ruler. U.S. Department of Defense photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
41 Responses to “U.S. Begins Attack On Libya, Gadhafi”
IN RESPONSE TO THE RESPONSE TO:
“All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing…..”
WHICH INCLUDED THE STATEMENT:
“No , we are Not certain evil will be defeated , and I never stated or implied that all rebels are good people. However to sit back and watch innocents being killed IS allowing evil to succeed.”
So evil may still succeed even if good people do something? So you agree that just doing something is not a guarantee? Maybe the good people are still not doing enough. After all, the “no fly zone” attacks are still allowing shelling, use of rifles, grenades, mortars, machine guns, poison gas and flame throwers if he decides to use them.
Nobody is stopping Libya’s dictator from killing his subjects, just dictating what means he is allowed to use to do so.
Doubtful David hoping for success
wishing they had a real plan
My favorite part of this article is “Officials expect Arab countries will publicly announce their participation soon.” LOL
Regarding :
David considering history
No , we are Not certain evil will be defeated , and I never stated or implyed that all rebels are good people. However to sit back and watch innocents being killed IS allowing evil to succeed. Not saying at all that Our great country has always made the right choices , or for the right reasons, but at least we have tried , succesfully or not, to help other countries enjoy the freedom of democracy that We ourselves enjoy. America did not win its independence solely through the efforts of Our own Peoples.We gained Our independence with the help and support of other Peoples and other governments. Lets not forget Our own history
LA Redneck also considering history
@Art
Your so far a head of them your waisting your breath.
REGARDING:
“All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing…..”
So we’re certain evil will be defeated if we good men step in? That must mean all the rebels are good people, right?
Gadaffi called in black African mercenaries to put down the uprising. Libyan rebels decided black people must all be mercenaries and chopped up black oil field workers into little bitty pieces. Is this a good thing? Mistakes happen and at least they weren’t REAL people, but was this a mistake or was it a harbinger of things to come?
Let’s look at other bad people who were ousted. Batista was bad in Cuba, so many Americans supported his overthrow by Fidel Castro. That worked out well.
The Shah of Iran was a tyrant so many liked the idea a religious man, the ayatollah Khomeini was going to replace him. So far so good as they supply bombs to Iraqis killing us.
Communist invasion of Afghanistan was part of the expansion of The Evil Empire. Driving them out, putting the Taliban in charge was surely a good thing–the Taliban that hanged women from soccer goals and messed up perfectly good games for days on end.
Czar Nicholas of Russia was part of an evil tyranny going back for centuries. Replacing it with the likes of Lenin and Stalin was therefore good, even if they DID murder some 20 million farmers and supported bloody revolutions around the world?
I could go on but the point won’t be understood. There’s no shortage of tyrants, not just those in power but those striving to steal that power. We have no assurance our intervention won’t just put in worse people.
David considering history
Concerning our involvement in Libya
All it takes for evil to succede is for good men to do nothing…..
No matter our opinion on the situation….we all need to be compassionate neighbors to those who have a spouse or family member serving. Please remember that their loved ones don’t get to tell them that they are “doing fine” or even that they are actually near libya shooting the missles. They are having to do their job and their families are left at home to watch the news to see if their loved one’s ship or sub is involved. And at that moment, when we find out, we are humble.
Please don’t forget that there’s not much we can do about our officials, but we should take time to be a concerned neighbor for those close by.
Let’s see, how are we gonna pin this on Bush? Those old Republicans are always wanting to pop a cap on some heathen” country!
citizen g:
all you got to do is read that carter doctrine and you will see why “hilary and o bummer” do what they do…politics as usual…
I support our troops . give them whatever theyneed to defend themselves..what i do not support is hilary and o bummer going around the world taking over nations that dont dance to their music. this attack on libia is madness.pure stupidity. and all who go along with this are war mongers and like to see bodies in the street…………………………….
REGARDING:
“Prior to WW II the United States took an Isolationist stand. We did not get involved with anything in the world except our own business.”
Not completely isolationist. We were providing arms to Britain under Lend Lease and we were blocking Japan’s access to petroleum resources they needed for their rape of China, Korea, Vietnam and wherever else they had invaded.
They needed stoppng but that doesn’t mean we weren’t involved prior to that attack. In fact it is interestin that when Japan attacked us, we concentrated on fighting Germany first and foremost.
David considering history
REGARDING:
“The reason we are striking first is to prevent another Pearl Harbor or World Trade Center mishap”
In the middle of a civil war Qaddafi is going to bomb Pearl Harbor? Doesn’t he have enough on his plate as it is?
I don’t like the man and look forward to his ouster just as Satan‘s looking forward to his company, but the people who brought down the World Trade towers are reported to be among those after him. I’m not sure our involvement would make their attacks less likely in the future. The Secretary of Defense already pointed out Congress isn’t fully funding protection of troops in the field in Afghanistan.
David considering acts of war
and their consequences
yes RON idont like the way the good old usa is doing things. and by the way..i dont have to move to mulem country.i already live in one. thanks to that good old muslem running the white house. and let me add he is also anti semitic.
ron, you’re wrong pal. love my country. did a tour in vietnam, usmc. combat, malaria, ptsd, all that good stuff. i just don’t think that sand pile in africa called libya, iraq or afghanistan is worth any american kids life. now if you’re fired up i’m sure the corp is still looking for a few good men. they’ll tell you what they told me. “all the rounds you can shoot and 1 hot meal a day”. semper fi, ps they lied, i ran out of ammo more than once and ate cold c rations a bunch.
“Libyan’s, run for it Marty!”
This just goes to show, we need to do away with titles like Republican or Democrat. We need a president (and leadership in general) that when push comes to shove they will do what it takes to benefit and protect the American people and the American way of life.
Why does it seem to me that everyone writing on this page is against the usa if you don’t like the way we are doing things maybe you should move to a muslim nation. The reason we are striking first is to prevent another pearl harbor or world trade center mishap. Its when we sit back and stay out if it that we always get attacked. We should all support our troops and stop all of the negativaty.
if it doesn’t directly apply to our national security, forget it. we’ve killed to many of our kids for other people. time to mind our own business. jobs and the deficit, fix that.
Troop support is ALWAYS 100%. However, I think we should finish the two wars that we are in now before stretching our military resources even further! There will always be some dictator in some obscure nation oppressing his people. There are probably hundreds of these tyrants in power at this very moment. We can remove them from power, but I think it best to do it one at a time rather than several at a time. If we had put all our might into the Afghan war, instead of asking our warriors to fight it half staff, then it would have been over much sooner. Ditto for Iraq. There is absolutely no question that our military men and women are the best in the world, but, though they may still win the fight with a proverbial hand tied behind their back, they will receive more punches than they would with use of both hands. I am also anxious to see how the liberal news media that was so critical of Bush for starting a second war before finishing his first reacts to their darling Obama starting a THIRD. Will Michael Moore make another “shockumentary” lambasting Obama? Will late night talk show hosts, CNN, the major network news, etc. drag him through the mud? Or will they once again find a way to blame it on Bush? — To the military men and women and their families who are reading this; you have my and pretty much everyone else’s full support. But had they allowed y’all to take care of business in Afghanistan, THEN take care of business in Iraq, THEN take care of business in Libya or where ever you need to take care of business, then we would be bringing more of you home in one piece in my opinion. Thank you all for your service!
Prior to WW II the United States took an Isolationist stand. We did not get involved with anything in the world except our own business. Look what happened though, Hitler rose to power, that’s another story. Since WW II we have been involved in the United Nations and we have been chosen to take on the role of world peacekeeper. I wish we would go back to the Isolation policy and leave the world alone for a while…….
Just heard on the news that Russia and the Arab League opposes our strike on Libya. Is there any other force on the globe that can step up and do something in the name of peace and humanitarian aid? Why is it always the good ole USA. Isn”t there other counties in the UN that can do something beside vote and let the USA and it’s allies do the dirty work and make more enemies. Why do other countries not seem to care what happens in Libya but we do?
the white house strikes again. this is the most deplorible thing i have seen since bush invaded iraq. it is also appalling at all the war mongering by the media. have we lost our minds to go along with this whitehouse tyranny?>? we are trying to take over the world. all this is orcestrated and instigated by clinton and o brain dead. we must be also to allow them to under mine countries.
Sandra, I agree 100%.
I just think if we’re going get involved at all, lets march right on in there, conquer Gadhafi’s regime, and capture and arrest him for crimes against humanity, as we did Sadam Husein.
He has been a perpetual pest to the UN for a long time and it is time for his reign of terror to end.
He has had plenty of warnings from the UN and the US and has taken them with a grain of salt.
He needs to go down and he needs to go down hard.
Thoughtful wrote “Please remember our troops who are being deployed there are still risking their lives for us. Whether we agree or not about being there, our military must go when then they are ordered.”
EXACTLY!
Please remember their families that are still here having to cope being without them.
Sandra:
imagine for a moment there is an election and a government is not permitted to take office and the ousted government carries out attacks against the civilians and UM peacekeepers. (google Gbagbo’s forces) that is what is happening in cote de ivoire and we arent running to their aid. why? no oil in cote de ivoire. there is lots of places in this world with vicious cruel dictators. now google “carter doctrine” and get educated on what and who our military kowtows to…by the way, i have the utmost admiration and give my undying support to our men and women in uniform that serve our country no matter where when or how, they go. but i for one want them out of harms way due to a non renewable resource that we are “addicted” to. i am tired of our brave soldiers being put in harms way because we are too complacent to do something else for energy or just do without. our soldiers are sacrificing, why cant we? lordy, some of them are 19 and in their very early 20s. im sick of it!
Imagine for a second you and your friends peacefully demonstrating against our federal government. Now imagine that same government firing on you,American citizens, via the U.S Marines. That is what is happening to the citizens who were peacefully demonstrating over there. Woulnt you want some country with a sense of decency to come to your aid? It’s not about the oil, it’s about stopping a dictator from murdering those who would stand and oppose him.
A frigate (pronounced /ˈfrɪɡɨt/) is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.
Taken from the dictionary…….
We need to get back to the good old days.One well placed bullet could save billions of dollars not to mention all the lives.
I hope Gadhafi has the common sense to step down from power after this sample of what is going to happen if he doesn’t.
He should have been removed from power 20 years ago when he was out of line.
I would hardly classify our efforts in Afghanistan “effective”.
I’m proud of my country, I have read some of these comments and it is bad to see my fellow countrymen not backing our troops… they are worried about this or that. Don’t you know if it wasn’t this it would be something else…. GO U.S.A.
Wow, that is pretty good… launching cruise missiles from frigates huh?
“Cruise missiles from U.S. submarines and frigates began the attack”
The picture (correctly) shows a Burke class destroyer…
I thought Obama promised to get us out of the wars in the middle east not in another one
Please remember our troops who are being deployed there are still risking their lives for us. Whether we agree or not about being there, our military must go when then they are ordered.
What does looking effective in our last couple of engagements mean? If you served, you’d see it differently, through my eyes we’ve been extremely effective. Hooah!
Ladies and Gentlemen, get ready to rock!…..and lower gas prices
if it wasnt the oil, we would be over in cote de ivorie taking out that whackadoodle…it is the oil…..
On one hand it’s nice to see America getting back to what it does best: using extreme firepower to clobber an enemy.
On the other hand we haven’t exactly come out looking very effective in our last couple of engagements.
Wander if all those great allies would break their back to support the U.S. if we were in a bind. We will see soon enough cause our day is coming. Look at us now, we can’t even pay our own debts, reckon when it all catches up with us.
Sooner than most people think!
Yep, Here we go again, spending millions now and probably billions to rebuild what we destroy later. We should take out Qaddafi and his regime not the infastructure of the country. Why does the USA have to always be the Big Dog under the name of some coalition? WE as a Nation have enough issues here at home that needs attention. Take care of your own first !!!
I heard on TV that he had chemical weapons. Better look out Iraq….I mean Libya.
Oh well…here we go once again…probably has something to do with the OIL when you get right down to it….I guess there are some things we must do…