starting this thread, which i hope will be short-lived, to keep the board up to date with latest reports gleaned from the net

"I am confused, as per usual."

So? We all knew that long ago.

So was C until he came out of the closet. Now he is is just pedantic.

I agree with the Russians. We should not be involved in Libya at all. It's a civil war and the West should mind its own business and stop interfering in Muslim countries.
Our governments are a load of self-righteous prigs with pretensions to a world role and no understanding of other cultures.
Just like a couple of posters on this and the Gaza thread.

ITLOB - a valid view with which i might have considerably more sympathy had not AL also backed (what you choose to call) the West's proposal and action ...... the fact that libya is a muslim country is surely irrelevant, for as you say, this is a civil war, but without religious undertones

The AL will vacillate and finally come out against the intervention, imho as the inevitable civilian collateral damage will turn them against the West. Also their natural sympathy for their Muslim brothers will trump any sense of fairness and justice in wanting to get rid of the pesky Colonel.
The Shia/Sunni and tribal tensions will play a part in my view.
Actually the Gadfly's TV performances always remind me of our very own parrot hays.
Thinks a huge amount of himself, rages and rants, lies, a comic figure.

i tend to agree
but the ruskies no better
all want to control the oil which is getting low
ruskies very clever in diplomacy imo then hit hard

Cynic,

Are you trying to hijack this thread for your own agenda.

Tut, Tut, Tut.

But I think it should be returned to you.

======

PS. I agree with your position of intervening, but I think, now that it is a "done deed", then it will need a ground force to supervise an election.

Arrangements, for the election will be difficult.

BUT, I think the actions of Cameron and Hague could have been earlier and before spouting on the World Stage, the "World Powers" through the UN should have been lobbied and a overall strategy been thought about.

If a ground force is necessary, then I think it obligatory that British and French troops are offered, hoping that the AL will fulfill the role.

gibby,
Agreed, Putin is a lot shrewder than Obama at geopolitics.

oil is indeed the key, but not only just as a "simple" commodity, for there are all sorts of important sub-texts and far-reaching consequences that attach to it

itlob - i posted on this issue, but tribalism, yes to some extent, but i do not think there is any underlying sunni/shia animosity in libya

fred - a ground force, whether or not under the auspices of UN, would be dynamite in the region, and (i think) should be avoided almost at all costs ...... it';s reasonable to guess that the rebels will indeed oust GM within say the next month or two, but it is then that the fun and games begin .... i would like to think that AL would take the lead at that juncture, but i think the chances of them doing so are long odds indeed

itlob
cheers mate putin is not blinkered unlike the west and human rights debacle which is a joke unless you are cherie blair and pals

Cynic.

You have more faith in the Arab League than I do. I wish mine was stronger, but here is the membership:-

Arab League
22 members[hide]

* Algeria * Bahrain * Comoros * Djibouti * Egypt
* Iraq * Jordan * Kuwait * Lebanon * Libya(suspended)
* Mauritania * Morocco * Oman * Palestine * Qatar * Saudi Arabia * Somalia * Sudan * Syria
* Tunisia * United Arab Emirates * Yemen

My feeling is that the UN did well to get any agreement with this group. Hope I am wrong.


I suppose a move when "hostilities" are suspended, then there could be a call for an United Nations policing force.

Interesting to watch the resonances of this "upset".

i had no knowledge at all of AL until this libyan thing blew up ..... a UN "policing force" of some description would possibly have some benefit, but assuredly it could not be imposed and would have to follow a specific request primarily from the libyan rebels

If the AL want a "peace keeping" force they can supply it themselves.
They soon want us "kaffirs, monkeys and dogs" to expend life and limb and treasure for them, rather than them doing it themselves.
And afterwards they will continue to hate us for being kaffirs.
Why on earth should we interfere?
They may not have the ability to project power as easily as the US, but they have forces they can fly in on their own civilian and military planes or over land from Egypt.
Do they? No, they are shrewd enough to let us kaffirs do it. They must be laughing at our high falutin' principles of caring for civilians being slaughtered by their fellow Muslims whilst they do nothing.
We really are mugs.

itlob - please check it out, but i think you may be factually incorrect, for i'm sure i saw that at least saudi was providing some hardware ..... as for subsequent policing, i do not think AL is organised in that way ..... i don't know if all the AL countries are part of UN, but i suspect they are, and if so, then support for a "police force" would be likely to be forthcoming if requested by the libyans themselves

I've not seen that cynic. I know two of the Gulf states promised to provide fighter-bombers to police the NFZ but have failed to do so.
Reminds me of the French support for the Iraq war when they disembarked their planes from their carrier before sending it to support Desert Storm LOL

I do feel our perfectly decent humanitarian feelings are being exploited here.
Votes of AL support come cheap and they have already expressed reservations.

There is one important factor when considering the AL as the "troops on the ground" or a interim "Police Force" in Libya and that is for many the last thing they want in Libya is a "democratically elected government". This would be like throwing a petrol on an incendiary bomb to them.

America and the Bush family would not particularly happy to Saudi Arabia under threat of rapid change to a political regime they have no control over.

Israel would likewise is probably sweating and very unhappy at the probable loss of some of its "allies".

Cameron's, Haque's and Bomber Fox bright intervention seems to have been ill-conceived and have potentially ill-thought out consequences

It seems more than likely that China and Russia are viewing the spoils of this adventure with knowing smiles.

,,

surprise surprise, israel is not part of AL and was libya ever its friend!? .....

do you mean general public or countries do not want a democratically elected gov't in libya?
if the latter, then which among AL members?

and by the way, why do you always like to harp on about it being uk gov't's responsibility for the NFZ?
that's bollocks and you know it!

sorry fred, but you're quickly reverting to your gaza persona, which is not to be commended