U.S. says missile strikes on Libya only "first phase"

[cali]

Sat, Mar 19 2011



USS Florida launches a Tomahawk cruise missile during Giant Shadow in the waters off the coast of the Bahamas in this file photograph taken in 2003 and released to Reuters on March 19, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/U.S. Navy photo/Handout

WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:41pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A series of more than 110 cruise missile strikes on Libyan targets is only the first phase of a multiphase operation, a senior U.S. military official said on Saturday.

Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff, declined to discuss what the next phase of the operations would be. He said more than 20 sites had been targeted in coalition strikes so far.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-libya-usa-strike-idUSTRE72I3N120110320

[RZM]

1. Good

And for the first time in a while, we actually have the support of the UN and some of the other great powers.

[leftstreet]

3. The support of the UN? Not the BRIC countries or Germany

Susan Rice was running around trying to lock down votes from every TinyStan she could

:eyes:

[RZM]

5. I don't give a shit about the BRIC countries

If they want to oppose intervention, good for them. That's their choice. Britain and France are both on board and they are most assuredly not 'tinystans.'

[leftstreet]

8. You should. They're laughing at the dying gasps of Western Imperialism

Which is probably a good thing

[RZM]

9. They aren't paradises

Russia is a mess, China is an authoritarian dictatorship, India has hundreds of millions mired in poverty, and Brazil is chaotic. Only two have long histories of Western Imperial domination, so the argument that they 'laugh' is a bit disingenuous.

[Arctic Dave]

10. But they are oil investors in Libya.

Schlumberger and BP are big in Libya.

[RZM]

12. Well then, call it off right away

After all . . . OIL. Did you hear me . . . I said OIL!!!!!!!

[Arctic Dave]

13. You act as if we wouldn't kill for it. Have you been on vacation for the last decade?

Just wondering.

[RZM]

14. No I haven't

Do you have any real evidence that the current intervention in Libya is about oil? Or are you just saying 'oil' and hoping that's enough. You actually have to make a connection to the current situation here. The oil was flowing just fine under Ghaddafi and would continue to flow if he had his way with the rebels. I know it sounds crazy, but every once in a while, the Western democracies actually go to bat for their ideologies.

[Arctic Dave]

15. Maybe the 98% oil tax structure has something to do with it.

If we intervened in countries that didn't have oil maybe I would be a little less cynical.

[RZM]

17. Such as Bosnia, Kosovo, and Somalia?

Consider your cynicality satiated.

[joshcryer]

7. Yes, first time R2P was used. Burma was tried, but China + Russia vetoed.

[leftstreet]

2. I can't remember, how many "phases" does it take to get to "partitioning?"

:grr:

[David__77]

4. That's already a fact on the ground.

And unless the aggressor powers decide to send in ground troops, that's not going to change. So Libya as a unitary nation-state is no more at this point.

[leftstreet]

6. I think you're right

So Libya as a unitary nation-state is no more at this point.

Wow. Just wow.

[lib2DaBone]

11. Tomahawk Cruise Missle.. cost $1.2 Million each.. .it's not like we need roads or bridges at home..

The 1.5-tonne missile, which cost between $US600,000 and $US1.2 million each, can carry a 450-kilogram warhead and additional bomblets


THE Tomahawk cruise missile, which was used by US and British forces to strike Libyan targets, has been in the allied arsenal for about 30 years and is used for long-distance precision strikes.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/tomahawk-cruise-missiles-used-for-libya-assaultq/story-e6frfkui-1226024934986#ixzz1H85jZchs

[ixion]

16. I don't understand why people think cruise missles kill fewer people under

Obama than they did under Bush.

The truth is this: They kill the same no matter who is president.

So to all you folks celebrating our bombing of Libya: You're hypocrites in my opinion.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

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[bowens43]

19. Time to escalate

lets get some boots on the ground, the war machine needs to be fed!!!

This action is pure stupidity