Barry has apparently indicated to Sarkozy that the US would consider contributing in a service and support role to The Coalition of the Willing, perhaps even to the extent of allowing French overflights through US airspace. You know, so they wouldn't have to dogleg around Spain and refuel...
.
We are making a big bad assumption that the rebels are friendly. I'm willing to be a large amount of ammunition that we are seeing the Iran revolution of the '70's all over again...
ReplyDeleteThough I admit seeing Gadaffi walking on air at the end of a rope has it's appeals.
Al T.
I know this is not what Obama is intending, but this might serve as a learning experience for Europe. Hopefully it teaches them that Uncle Sam might have a national attack of stupid and elect someone you can't count on to pull your fat from the fire. Maybe you should spend a bit more than 1% of GDP on defense.
ReplyDeleteLovely. A swipe at both the one and the French, for not helping solve Gaddafi years ago, at the same time. Too bad so few know enough history, particularly in Washington, to appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteThe URL of that story ends with "...libya-obama-gaddafi-un-strikes"
ReplyDelete"un-strikes" would sum up how much the UN does pretty succinctly. "Brigand! Stop your uncouth behaviour at once, or I shall be forced to un-strike you, with harsher words!"
The UN talks and dithers, and dithers about talking some more .... meanwhile Khadaffi's goons are bombing*/shelling Benghazi and advancing with tanks ......
ReplyDelete"Where is France, where is NATO?" cried a 50-year-old woman in Benghazi, where a doctor said 27 people were killed Saturday. "It's too late."
We sure are not scoring any points in that area of the world, when it would be so easy to do so..... kinda reminds me of the aftermath of FTX Desert Storm: The low point in my military career was when I found out how the Marsh Arabs that our psyops guys had convinced to rise up against Saddam were butchered ..... while I sat there a few miles away wondering why we were not going hell bent for leather to put his head on a stick....
wv:noonion?: weighty matters of state are going on and the UN is dithering over condiments on their sandwiches
*the rebels did manage to shoot down a bomber this AM, apparently...
Al T.,
ReplyDelete"We are making a big bad assumption that the rebels are friendly."
What you mean "we", paleface? ;)
jimbob86,
ReplyDelete"We sure are not scoring any points in that area of the world, when it would be so easy to do so..."
Haven't we learned the hard way that toppling genocidal dictators doesn't score you any points on the Arab street?
For a region with such a long memory for grudges, it sure is the land of "What have you done for me lately?"
From what little Int'l news is being shown on my TV (even with Mega-Channels of programming available to me), doesn't anyone find it a little Strange that all the #1s of the Coalition to Ban Wacko Terrorist Dynasty Control of the EU's Oil Supply are meeting in Paris, while the World's Only Superpower sends its #3, Hillary to lead the charge? Just think back to the time of the Potsdam Conference. There's Churchill. Stalin and....who was FDR's Sec. of. State in that term? Guess that with Japan slowing breeding Giant RadioActive Dinosaurs and Libya Re-Enacting the North African Campaign, the Danger Zone of the World MUST be in Rio, or else why would B.Hussein Obama put him and his family as far away from having to deal with the World's Problems as physically possible?
ReplyDeleteOf course, if the Nobama's are looking for a place to go, just in case they need Asylum as they flee the wrath of the American Citizenry, may I recommend a lovely 30 room mansion in the hills over looking Sao Paulo? I'll even contribute to the House Buying Fund!
"so they wouldn't have to dogleg around Spain and refuel..." -funniest thing I have heard all week!
ReplyDeleteBubblehead Les,
ReplyDelete"Just think back to the time of the Potsdam Conference. There's Churchill. Stalin and....who was FDR's Sec. of. State in that term?"
Byrnes had just taken over as President Truman's SecState before Potsdam, actually. :)
Unrelated, but espn3.com is showing the entire 12 hours of Sebring. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat I find ironic is that the UN is supporting the rebels. After all, isn't the UN convention on Small Arms and light weapons all about helping dictators disarm their citizens?
ReplyDeleteShouldn't the UN resolution demand that the rebels turn in their illegal weapons?
Or is that only American citizens they are targeting?
I'm feeling a little dense this morning. Could someone explain what US Airspace we are talking about?
ReplyDeleteThat dogleg's a beyotch. France forced us to take the WC-135 way out towards the Azores and through the Straits of Gibraltar when we did sorties from Mildenhall to Iraq during Desert Storm. The bastards added several hours to the mission. We ended up needing tanker support because they didn't like an unarmed reconnaissance jet overflying a place nobody's wanted to reconnoiter since D-Day.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus - I know this is not what Obama is intending, but this might serve as a learning experience for Europe
ReplyDeleteGood point. Some of us on the right have complained for years that the Euros won't carry their share of the load. This is "put up or shut up" time for them: if it's so f*cking important to them to protect those civilians and uphold... whatever it is that they want to uphold, then by golly they should do it. And if they CAN'T, then (as you say), maybe they need to rethink their national budget priorities.
Charles Pergiel,
ReplyDelete"I'm feeling a little dense this morning. Could someone explain what US Airspace we are talking about?"
It's a reference to Operation El Dorado Canyon. :)
"It's a reference to Operation El Dorado Canyon. :)"
ReplyDeleteI thought it was Mucho Grande?
Are you over Mucho Grande yet?
Rob (Trebor)
I'm waiting for the part where a British Prime Minister announces in his Oh So Plummy voice that he has successfully negotiated with a mad dictator and come back "...with peace..."
ReplyDeleteAw damn!
That's the same place we came in last time.
Winnie had the right idea.
Neville had cheap drugs.
Odd and vaguely troubling phraseology on the NBC News last night...
ReplyDelete"...President Obama announced today that...the US will now take the lead on possible military action in Libya, the UN approved it last night..."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news/#42158911
Leads one to wonder as to the actual who and why...
AT
@perlhaqr...
If you're down this way on race week some time, let me know and I'm sure I can lean on some of my old LEO buddies for some tix and pit passes for you...I'm assuming you know that the Sebring race is more of a multi-day campout and drinking party than anything, but it can be fun, and for an autophile there's the bonus of hundreds of Ferraris, Porches, and the high-end Bimmers and Audis, etc. zipping around our little burg at this time. Lots of rich guys with some interesting umm, companions too; more entertaining than the action out at the track, imo...AT
Porches too, though none so interesting as this one...but make that "Porsches":[
ReplyDeleteIt would appear that the US navy shot 110 cruise missles at $3 million a pop at Libyan military targets.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure if I had a $100 million cash to give to folks I could have had a whole bunch of folks change sides.
Gerry
Well .... now we apparently lobbing cruise missiles at air defense installations to pave the way for No-Fly Zone* ops ..... from, ironicly enough, the USS Barry ....
ReplyDelete*Having spent some time in SW Asia, which I can't imagine is very much different from Central North Africa .... the idea that any area there is capable of being free of flies for any period of time longer than about .... 5 seconds.... is .... doubleplus unpossible.
wv: reduct ..... reductio ad absurdum?
Bwah-ha-ha!
ReplyDeleteThe USS Barry's Motto (I $hit You Not!):
"Strength And Diversity"
from here:
http://www.barry.navy.mil/default.aspx
wv: "priders" .... does the diversity include gay priders?
I'm tellin' ya: Google KNOWS.
"I'm pretty sure if I had a $100 million cash to give to folks I could have had a whole bunch of folks change sides."
ReplyDeleteSeems to be working so far for King Abdullah...I think he got the idea from King Obama.
But I'm sure all of our expenses in this latest skirmish will be totally comp'ed by the Arab League whose bitches we currently are (okay Kristopher; bytches).
And by the way a complete reversal tonight on who's taking the lead...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news/#42169195
5-day economic tour in Rio...heh. Bring your suits, girls.
AT
AT: I appreciate that. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, I've got a pretty good idea of what it's all about down there. I've been chatting all day with a buddy of mine in the press room there. He's been doing Sebring for various outlets for the last 10 years or so. I keep saying I'm going to take his invite out some year, haven't managed it quite yet. This year probably would have been a good bet, except I didn't think about it until far too late. Doh.
AT,
ReplyDelete"Seems to be working so far for King Abdullah...I think he got the idea from King Obama."
Vice versa, actually.
Looks like Hilary is running the show now. Barry is focused on his brackets. What a cluster.
ReplyDeleteTam: "Vice versa, actually."
ReplyDeleteYeah, me attempting ironic.
AT
Random question: What's the shelf-life of an unfired tomahawk, and did the USS Barry (et al) happen to swap her ready rounds with whatever happened to be in storage in Italy with the oldest best-before dates?
ReplyDelete(The One might not be smart enought o figure that one out, but Sec Gates might be, and we do have some occasional sharp cookies wearing stars in the Pentagram)