Military strikes on Libya within hours: France

[joshcryer]

Source: ABC News

The Agence France Presse news agency is reporting that the French government has said military action against Libya will come within "hours".

The strikes will come "rapidly... within a few hours," government spokesman Francois Baroin reportedly told RTL radio after the UN Security Council cleared the way for air strikes by approving "all necessary measures" to impose a no-fly zone on Libya.

"The French, who led the calls , will of course be consistent with military intervention," Mr Baroin added.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/18/3168059.htm?section=justin

[old mark]

1. I guess they will send the Legion in first.....nt

[pinboy3niner]

4. Mais, oui!

[old mark]

13. More like this, actually---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Foreign_Legion
They are a very capable military force.

mark

[Selatius]

2. We should expect to see French warplanes entering Libyan airspace to engage Libyan warplanes.

By all accounts, the Libyans possess dated warplanes that are hand-me-downs from the now non-existent Soviet Union. The aerial fighting should be brief.

[joshcryer]

3. Indeed. MiG-23 vs Dassault Mirage 2000 should be no contest.

[bigworld]

15. The Libyans have a few old Mirages as well

It's not much of an air force, really. If the French keep to the air, they will suffer no casualties.

[fittosurvive]

20. "The aerial fighting should be brief."

Yes, but what about the ensuing sequence of events?

Who are "the opposition?" Are we to assume that they are advocates of a Thomas Jefferson style of political philosophy or are their views more in line with the Al-Qaida view of the world? I'm just asking, because I have no idea.

What exactly is it that we are supposed to be supporting and where is the Act of War that our representatives have declared?

[susu369]

38. Some good questions, IMHO

*nt*

[Turborama]

5. My guess is at least 10 hours. If they are going to do it, it won't be during the day. n/t

[joshcryer]

6. Misurata is screwed then.

:(

[Corruption Winz]

7. Is this their way of showing conservatives in America that "faggy countries" have weapons, too? n/t.

[Alamuti Lotus]

8. Sarkozy, Burlesque-oni, Cameron, Saud, Thani, Ibn Zayid, Khalifa -- quite the "coalition"

[OKDem08]

9. oh goody another war...

:sarcasm:

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kurska]

11. Qadaffi started the war against his own citizens.

You prefer we just sit around and watch 600,000 people get massacred at Benghazi?

[old mark]

12. That would only be the beginning...I believe he would be killing his "enemies"

for a long time to come if given the chance.

mark

[Kurska]

16. Excatly

Is it such a bad idea to save the world several massacres and just kill the bastard now?

[OKDem08]

21. I've just become rather cynical at the selective use of

force. Nothing re: Darfur, turning a blind eye to the abuses of the Saudi 'kingdom' yet Libya: shock and dismay - it's a humanitarian crisis which requires action.

[old mark]

24. I agree with you there- I never understood why we didn't go into Darfur...

evidently the Saud family is getting a bit nervous right now...we might be there yet.


mark

[OKDem08]

39. The Saudi ... tah dah

Kingdom might be next. You never know...they might be actually forced to allow women (gasp)

the right to...

drive


yes, it's the 21st century

[CJCRANE]

14. Britain and France are taking the lead on this. nt

[dionysus]

23. yes, if france goes in, we need to vote third party....

:crazy:

[groundloop]

17. I'm cautiously optmistice this won't drag out forever.....

I have mixed feelings about this - A madman is murdering his citizens and needs to be stopped (or at least slowed down, as a no-fly zone would do), yet I'm not at all thrilled about throwing more money and more human sacrifice into yet another war. If this goes somewhat like enforcing the no-fly zone over Irag after the first gulf war it may well turn out to be not too bad. If we get drawn into a ground war, however.......

[Maine-ah]

18. merde.

[OKDem08]

22. je comprendre

[Lars77]

19. Even the western imperial powers get it right occasionally

This is the first just intervention since Kosovo in my opinion. We failed in Rwanda in 94, this time it may be too late, but its imperative that we now not only take out his air force, but also strike at the ground forces shelling Bhengazi. Ghadaffy is looking to wipe out the entire city and all its people using artillery, tanks and Shilkas.

[faz]

26. If that's the case you should also wish the South won the Civil War

supported by the French!

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Alexander]

28. Your post makes no sense at all. The Libyan rebels are not even close to the Confederacy.

[faz]

30. Why not? Some rebels want to take over the country

It's Libyans killing Libyans.

We should not judge on either side.

Let Libyrans sort the mess out themselves.

[Alexander]

32. Gaddafi is a murderous dictator, killing thousands of innocent people.

"We should not judge on either side."

Except we can judge Gaddafi, like when he ordered the bombing of that discotheque in West Berlin, and when he ordered the Lockerbie bombing.

It is highly unlikely the Libyan rebels will be worse when it comes to human rights and terrorism than Gaddafi.

[faz]

33. So was Saddam Hussein, Shah Pahlavi, or Hosni Mubarak

But doesn't mean imperialist countries have a right to mess up with their internal affair.

Today's Middle East mess is really caused by the acts of the racist imperialist European countries like Britain, France, etc. since WWI.

[Alexander]

34. Actually it was the "imperialist countries" that installed the Shah in the first place.

And supported him strongly up to the very end.

It's clear you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

I'm sure you were just fine with the Rwandan genocide, because it's their problem, right?

[faz]

35. I'm sure all these little wars in Africa are nothing more than a proxy war for

the imperialist countries behind the scene.

[Alexander]

37. I'm sure they're all secretly run by alien lizard people!

:crazy:

[faz]

29. Does it matter? It's a civil war

let them fight it out. They don't need the international imperialists chiming in.

[faz]

25. Old timer imperialist French is bloody thirsty again!

Does Sarkozy still remember the history of French imperialism defeat in North Africa in the 20th century?

Guess not.

[totodeinhere]

31. Oh great. There's noting like a good war.

:sarcasm:

[faz]

36. Finally, the French unemployment rate dips

But war will not solve your domestic problems, Sarkozy.