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

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good luck all - short update....

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

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Europe

NATO to take over Libya operations

Alliance announces it will assume overall responsibility for enforcing UN-mandated mission.
Last Modified: 27 Mar 2011 20:15
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NATO will take overall responsibility for carrying out the UN-mandated mission in Libya [Reuters]

NATO is to assume full command of operations in Libya from the US-led force that has been conducting air attacks against the forces of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary general, announced the agreement on Sunday following a meeting in Brussels.

"We have directed NATO's top operational commander to begin executing this operation with immediate effect," he said in a statement.

"Our goal is to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat from the Gaddafi regime.

"NATO will implement all aspects of the UN resolution. Nothing more, nothing less," he said, referring to the UN Security Council resolution that authorised military action over Libya.

Paul Brennan, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from Brussels said: "NATO was already involved in enforcing the no-fly zone and the arms embargo.

"Now they are going to take overall command which means they will [also] take responsibility for protecting Libyan civilians on the ground. It's a big step forward."

Week of debate

The operations will be led by Canadian General Charles Bouchard, NATO said.

In a statement released in Naples after NATO took over enforcement of the no-fly zone, Bouchard said the alliance "will do everything it can to deny any use of air power and it will do so with care and precision to avoid harming the people of Libya".

Experts said that a full transition to NATO command would take about 48 hours.

The agreement, reached after just two hours of talks, ends a week of heated debate, much of it between NATO members France and Turkey, over the Libya mission's command structure.

After eight days of strikes on Libyan targets, Washington is eager to quickly hand responsibility for air strikes to the military alliance.

The air raids have already tipped the balance away from Gaddafi's regular military to the lightly armed rebels, although the two sides remain at a stalemate in key cities.


Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

M .... i have pretty much answered your first and main issue already .... as for you, i'm afraid you're great at being full of rhetoric and general soapbox codswallop, while (not very) skilfully avoiding nailing any colours to the mast whatsoever ..... hardly commendable

M

Why not just state what you think the Coalition should have done about the Libyan situation?

I am quite clear on this issue; I am sick of the slaughter that elected or unelected governments inflict on their own people, or the tacit approval of such by doing nothing to stop the atrocities. The collateral damage (which inevitably accompanies kinetic action) is of course hugely regrettable, but I suspect if MG wins this conflict, you aint seen nuthin yet.

I agree entirely that the UN is a useless organisation.

Here is an example of an outside influence on Libya.

"Gaza medics await the approval of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which has been handed power in Egypt for a humanitarian aid mission to enter Libya following the departure of most of the country's medical staff.

Sixteen names were chosen out of 100 paramedics who wanted to participate in the mission. They have coordinated with the Arab doctors federation and will gain momentum with more doctors and medical supplies while transiting Egypt should authorities allow their entry, according to secretary of the Gaza paramedics union Yousef Fahjan.

We have most felt the pain of the Libyans, considering that we ourselves are subjected to continous daily aggression. This feeling is the greatest motivation for our aiding the Libyans alongside our humanitarian and professional duty, especially after most of the paramedics have left from there and we learned about the shortage of paramedics.

This is the least we can do to reciprocate the Libyans, who have stood by our sides during the war on Gaza. Most of those who contacted us to lift our morale during the war were Libyans, Fahjan said.

Libya had also sponsored five aid convoys to the Gaza Strip dubbed the Quds convoy and donated five million dollars to reconstruct Gaza following the last Israeli war."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12876696

gla

Wow, a few medics.

Just can't help yourself can you? Don't you realise you need to seek your own medical assistance for this compulsion?

UN - it can certainly be a very frustrating and slow and at times, totally ineffectual ..... this is always the problem when trying to reach decisions by effectively unanimous consensus - one veto often derails the whole ..... however, overall it is a force for good (corrupt? .... if at all, then minimal even compared to IOC or FIFA!) and, i think, a necessary device to rein in at least some unilateral excesses.



peter - i assume from the tone of your post that you support the action so far being taken to support the libyan rebels ..... that being so, what do you think should be done next?

assuming you concur that we (UN+ AL etc) should not send in ground forces, do you think we should supply arms through one channel or another?

taking it that MG is removed by one means or another, should we help (whatever that may mean!) libya to be governed by democratic means or do we just walk away and leave them to their own devices, shambolic and violent as that may well be at least in the initial stages?

Rag tag rebel army have no chance of taking capital without more help from UN forces.

perhaps, though i am not sufficiently knowledgeable to make a valid judgement on that ..... mind you, if increasing numbers of the populace and army defect from GM, then all bets change anyway

but tell me bernard, are you suggesting that UN would need to send in ground forces or that the rebels would need to be sent (even more) arms from outside?

would you support the concept of UN ground forces being used, and if so, as front line troops or pretty much just as bystanders to any military action?

Make it an even fight give the rebels more arms.

ok, but then how high a risk that those arms will ultimately fall into the "wrong hands" - e.g. al qaeda - and is that a risk worth taking?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12874014
Libya: No arms for rebels, UK's Liam Fox says

Coalition countries attacking targets in Libya will not supply arms to anti-Gaddafi rebels, UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox has told the BBC.

There are reports in the Sunday Times claiming plans to supply weapons to rebels are being drawn up.

But Dr Fox said there was a UN arms embargo across the entire country, adding "we have to accept that".

unless such arms were routed through AL or similar!

God help the rebels, and their family if Gadaffe stays and overpowers the them.

now the platitudes are out of the way, please may we have your view on post 232

"But Dr Fox said there was a UN arms embargo across the entire country, adding "we have to accept that"."

If the Fox said that, I would think that the arms are already on their way to the the "rebels".

Mind they could be withdrawn at a moment's notice.

also fails to answer the question i asked!

Silly Mr C the arms to the rebels would be supplied on loan, and they would give them back to the USA when Gadaffe is defeated.

Reading your posts I think you are a wind up merchant, or one of low education who has a chip on his shoulder.

for goodness sake! ..... i have asked a sensible question but you seem incapable of answering it ...... i know my own opinion, but i am interested to hear what others have to say - relevantly that is