Posts Tagged ‘middle east’

No boots on the ground…except for 2200 marines maybe

Posted: March 23, 2011 by datechguy in middle east, opinion/news, war
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Warner Todd Huston not only has a cooler Fedora than me, he noticed something that everyone else has apparently missed:

About 2,200 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit will take part in support operations based aboard USS Kearsarge at sea. Those support operations have thus far included air strikes and one rescue operation. The overall mission is to help end the violence directed at the Libyan people.

“In Libya right now they are doing exactly what we need them to do. They are doing what they are told and right now that’s protecting Libyan people against Qadhafi forces,” said Captain Timothy Patrick, a Marine with the 26th MEU.

I don’t pretend to be a military expect but what non-combat role will 2200 marines be doing aboard the Kearsarge at sea that couldn’t be done by the sailors on the ship. It’s not like the Kearsarge is going to be boarding the CSS Alabama anytime soon.

Warner comments:

One suspects that US ground forces will have to become engaged if anything solid is to happen in NATO’s engagement in Libya. And it seems like Obama is warming us up for that yet.

and as Dan Riehl points out, the Kearsarge is an amphibious assault ship, if they aren’t going to be boots on the ground in Libya, just what are they going to be assaulting? According to Gates they are for “options and contingencies,”.

Apparently president Obama’s definition of “boots on the ground” is similar to a few of my friends who insist that this is “not a war”.

It will be very interesting to see what happens once this gets into the MSM.

That “Gaddafi must go!”…nevermind.

Posted: March 23, 2011 by datechguy in middle east, opinion/news, war
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Am I actually reading this:

President Obama indicated on Tuesday that Muammar Qadhafi may still have an opportunity to “change his approach” and put in place “significant reforms” in the Libyan government.

On Morning joe Right now they are talking about Libya and ignoring this. But now that Savannah Guthrie is on the air and he said it to her maybe they will bother to report it.

Oh Brother.

Update: Turns out they didn’t mention that bit, amazing.

“We asked the permission of Gabon and not the US Congress?”

Posted: March 22, 2011 by datechguy in middle east, politics, war
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Pat Buchanan on the attacks on Libya.

Watching Morning Joe twist in circles continues to be an awful lot of fun.

I know some disagree but why should we let the left off the hook for this kind of thing. All it does is enable them the next time they come after conservatives. Additionally the insistence of “limited war” against Gaddafi is nonsense.

He also referred to the French and Europe as the “JV” team.

There is a conflict here in one sense, If this was going to be done it needed to be done faster and a vote could have been asked of congress. I believe when the president spoke the words “Gaddafi must go” he did so without considering what that meant for the US. There is also the possibility that this was done as a sop to Egypt who fought a war with Gaddafi in the past.

In the meanwhile I intend to continue to tweak the left, in the end I hope this will all work out. As for the president regardless if the move was right or wrong or late we are committed and we have to stand behind the fight. In the words of a particular Giant: “I hope we win.”

Good thing we have the Arab League behind us…

Posted: March 20, 2011 by datechguy in middle east, war
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…or not.

A coordinated attack by Western forces targeting Libyan air capabilities and armor appears to have succeeded in damaging Libyan military installations and armor, but Arab support for the no-fly zone may be waning.

Arab League head Amr Moussa told reporters Sunday that the Arab league thought the use of force was excessive following an overnight bombing campaign that Libya claims killed at least 48 people.

“What we want is civilians’ protection, not shelling more civilians,” he was quoted saying by the Associated Press.

And more:

The volte-face by the Arab League raises uncertainty about the unity of Western and Muslim leaders and highlights varying interpretations of tactics and strategy.

Only Qatar has openly supported the Western-led campaign and Sky sources confirm the United Arab Emirates is offering help but does not seek to publicise

To steal a meme from Glenn Reynolds: “They told me that if I voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin, Arab friends who formally supported our actions would turn away. And they were right!”

Update: As Captain Ed says, that didn’t take long.

Update 2: That’s what stinks about taxes, when you are busy doing them you don’t notice an instalanche, thanks Glenn.

Update 3: Just an FYI there has yet to be a person voting in this poll (bottom of page) who thinks Gaddafi will be out of power by April 1st.

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