Libya Rebels: US to Send Gadhafi Opponents $25 Million in Aid

[Baclava]

Source: ABC news

After spending weeks trying to determine who the rebels in Libya are and what they want, the Obama administration has notified Congress it intends to provide the rebels with $25 million in assistance. It will not include arms or ammunition.

The President's proposed actions would provide urgently needed non-lethal assistance to support efforts to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attack in Libya," the letter from Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Joseph Macmanus said. Administration officials also briefed the Hill on the plans on Tuesday.

The State Department today denied it was trying to tip the balance of the months long stalemate between the rebels and Gadhafi's forces.



Read more: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/04/libya-rebels-us-to-send-gadhafi-opponents-25-million-in-aid.html

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Sending that check to the CIA?

[pinniped]

1. We don't know what we're doing, but here's $25 million....

so you can purchase weapons from any arms dealer you may encounter.

[EFerrari]

2. Maybe they're going to throw the bills up into the no fly zone

to confuse the grenades.

[Baclava]

7. Still sounds like CIA to me...

"Pursuant to section 652 and section 552(c)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961, as amended (FAA), I wish to inform you that the President intends to
exercise his authority to drawdown up to $25 million in commodities and services
from the inventory and resources of any agency of the United States government."

[EFerrari]

8. Could be. Or DIA. Same difference, I guess. n/t

[Baclava]

6. Regime change debit cards only come with the Platinum membership.

We'll just call it a gift card

Can only debit milk and groceries and bullet-proof vests and helmets, no beer or cigarettes or AK's.

[MrTriumph]

3. Yeah, like we don't need that $25 million used here in the USA.

x

[SoulSearcher]

4. Hey - it is only Lunch Money !!?!!

"It will not include arms or ammunition."
Lighten up, jeez

[Roy Rolling]

5. PBS and NPR

Well, as long as we cut PBS and NPR we have more money to spend on overseas civil wars. :sarcasm:

[dipsydoodle]

9. Its not usually hard cash

Probably be given to Bechtel to privatise their water supply.

[daleo]

10. Technically, it's China's money

That will be paid back from social security cuts.

[Turborama]

11. GOOD! I Hope it helps the revolutionaries in their attempt to overthrow their brutal dictator.

K&R Thanks for sharing!

[Turborama]

12. Libya rebels to get $25m of surplus US military equipment under Pentagon proposal

The US plans to send $25m worth of non-lethal equipment to the rebel opposition in eastern Libya, in a move likely to further entangle the west in the two-month-old civil war.

The proposal to send surplus Pentagon equipment, including vehicles, medical supplies, protective vests, binoculars and radios, follows Italy's decision to join Britain and France in sending military advisers to the Libyan opposition and a French pledge to intensify air strikes.

The Libyan government has warned that such moves will further prolong the conflict and "encourage the other side to be more defiant".

The US plan, which must be approved by President Barack Obama, is to send "non-lethal assistance" to the Transitional National Council in Benghazi, the de facto opposition government which has not been recognised by Washington. The dispatch of the surplus US stock does not need approval from Congress.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/20/libya-rebels-us-military-equipment-non-lethal

I hope it does "encourage the other side to be more defiant".

The more "defiant" they are against the Gaddafi family's brutal dictatorship the better the chance they have of toppling it.

[joshcryer]

13. Shh, defiance isn't peaceful! If they'd only bow down and let their heads be taken...

...Misrata would be calm and normal!

[Baclava]

14. We're not "toppling" anything - didn't you read the letter?

"The State Department today denied it was trying to tip the balance of the months long stalemate between the rebels and Gadhafi's forces."

So if we're not taking sides in this civil war - regime change is not the objective.

I guess we don't trust "them" with guns.

[Turborama]

15. I wasn't talking about you or me.

Read what I wrote again.

[Baclava]

16. The rebels will have to learn fight a lot better to win. Give them 6 months to get started.

Another year or two to stand a chance to topple Moe.

Army surplus gear isn't what Moe should be worried about - it's those boots on the ground that will come with NATO humanitarian aid convoys.