Coalition Missiles and Aircraft Fly in the No-Fly Zone
The news is reporting today (March 21st, 2011) that US and British forces have attacked Libya, hitting targets from the air in Tripoli and other places. Everyone seems to have an opinion about this and I have rebuttals to share.
To the pacifists who thought you elected a pacifist in President Obama: Nope…and guess what, I already knew that. Presidents sometimes have to use the military to get things done and I saw in Obama a streak of iron in that regard from the beginning…even while you thought you were voting for an anti-military candidate. So thppppptttt! Besides, I may be wrong, but this looks to me like us standing behind and supporting our friends in the U.K. They stand behind us all the time, even when it’s unpopular to do so, and now it’s our turn to help them.
To those who want to impeach Obama for authorizing military force against Libya: See above (espesially the “thppppptttt!” part). The purpose of impeachments is to try and remove a President for breaking the law (you know…things like purjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, etc.) You don’t impeach a President for doing their job.
To any Republicans/Conservatives who are whining about this: See above. Also, you know you wanted to do this. Common, admit it, you’ve been itching to slap Gaddafi around for a week now. And no, Obama is not “wagging the dog”, who cares about the fact that wars make sitting presidents more powerful, give it a rest and let him do his job already. It’s not like a Republican President wouldn’t have bombed Libya yesterday.
To Obama saying there will be “no troops on the ground” in Libya: Please, please, please STOP telling the enemy what you plan to do or not do! It gets our people killed! Just wait and see what happens and go from there. Better to say, “Establishing air superiority is a necessary part of enforcing a no-fly zone, and ground forces aren’t normally part of that kind of operation.” That tells us all here at home what you want to do (I believe you BTW) without committing yourself to a course of action that gives the target something to plan for.
To Gaddafi: Yes, those are Stealth Bombers, cool aren’t they? No, you can’t hit them with your surface to air missiles. Yes, those SAMS will run out of fuel and fall back down and hurt your own people just like last time. No, I don’t think you care, but I do, so I thought I’d mention it.
You know that we really, really don’t like you when we use expensive assets like stealth aircraft on you during a full moon when you might see them and get a chance to shoot at them. It’s much more fun flying them on moonless nights.
You brought this all on yourself, but I’m looking forward to hearing you whine. I’ve missed that. Will you be doing that later on today? Please be sure to drop the British a line telling them where and when you’ll give your speech.
To Spanish-speaking Tweeters in #Obama: Lots of you are getting involved and I think that’s great. I can’t understand what you’re saying, but I’m glad you’re getting in there and saying it. 😉
Related Articles
- War #3 (geneveith.com)
- “UK missiles bombard Libya again” and related posts (rocketnews.com)
- Gaddafi loses control (theage.com.au)
- Libya: ‘Ceasefire’ As Anti-Aircraft Fire Continues (news.sky.com)
- Coalition claims success in Libya (capitolhillblue.com)
- Second wave targets Libya (theage.com.au)
- “Missile Strike Hits Personal Compound Of Moammar Gaddafi” and related posts (theodoresworld.net)
- US hails Libya airstrike success – ABC Online (news.google.com)
- Robert Gates: Libya Mission Handoff In Days, U.S. Will Not Have ‘Preeminent Role’ (huffingtonpost.com)
- Missile destroys Gaddafi building (ashwathputtur.wordpress.com)
- U.s.a and Allies Attack Libya (socyberty.com)
- Gaddafi compound hit by missile (mirror.co.uk)
- Analysis: U.S. military takes lead on Libya, but for how long? (reuters.com)
Bill Housley 