media.syndicate
Gaddafi vows 'long war' after US, allies strike
March 20, 2011 Anand	Leave a comment
The US and European nations targeted Muammar Gaddafi's forces with airstrikes and dozens of cruise missiles, shaking the Libyan capital with explosions and the sound of gunfire early Sunday. The Libyan leader vowed a long war "with unlimited patience and deep faith."
State television said 48 people had died in the strikes, which marked the widest international military effort since the Iraq war. They were aimed at enforcing a UN mandated no-fly zone in support of rebels who have seen early gains reversed by the regime's superior air power and weaponry.
In Benghazi, the rebel capital and first city to fall to the uprising that began February 15, people said the international action happened just in time. Libyan government tanks and troops had reached the edges of the city on Saturday.
"It was a matter of minutes and Gaddafi's forces would have been in Benghazi," said Akram Abdul Wahab, a 20-year-old butcher in the city.
In the phone call to state television, Gaddafi said he would not let up on the rebel-held city and said the government had opened up weapons depots to all Libyans, who were now armed with automatic weapons, mortars and bombs.
The US military said 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from American and British ships and submarines at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force. French fighter jets fired the first salvos, carrying out several strikes in the rebel-held east, while British fighter jets also bombarded the North African nation.
President Barack Obama said military action was not his first choice and reiterated that he would not send American ground troops.
"This is not an outcome the US or any of our partners sought," Obama said from Brazil, where he is starting a five-day visit to Latin America. "We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy."
Thousands of regime supporters, meanwhile, packed into the sprawling Bab al-Aziziya military camp in Tripoli where Gaddafi lives to protect against attacks.
Explosions rocked the coastal cities, including Tripoli, where anti-aircraft guns could be heard firing overnight.
Libyan TV quoted the armed forces command as saying 48 people were killed and 150 wounded in the allied assault. It said most of the casualties were children but gave no more details.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was deeply concerned about civilians and called on all sides to work to distinguish between civilians and fighters and allow safe access for humanitarian organizations.
Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya for 41 years, said the international action against his forces was unjustified, calling it "simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war."
His regime acted quickly in the run-up to the strikes, sending warplanes, tanks and troops into the eastern city of Benghazi, the rebel capital and first city to fall to the rebellion that began February 15. Then the government attacks appeared to go silent.
Operation Odyssey Dawn, as the allied assault has been dubbed, followed an emergency summit in Paris during which the 22 leaders and top officials agreed to do everything necessary to make Gaddafi respect a UN Security Council resolution Thursday calling for the no-fly zone and demanding a cease-fire, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters in Washington that US ships and a British submarine had launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses.
Gortney said the mission has two goals, firstly to prevent further attacks by Libyan forces on rebels and civilians, and secondly, to degrade the Libyan military's ability to contest a no-fly zone.
Defense officials cautioned it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the onslaught. But a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the mission was ongoing, said the Americans felt that Libya's air defenses had been heavily damaged given the precision targeting of the cruise missiles.
Mohammed Ali, a spokesman for the exiled opposition group the Libyan Salvation Front, said the Libyan air force headquarters at the Mateiga air base in eastern Tripoli and the Aviation Academy in Misrata had been targeted.
About 20 French fighter jets carried out several strikes earlier Saturday, military spokesman Thierry Burkhard told The Associated Press.
"All our planes have returned to base tonight," he said, and denied a Libyan TV report that a French plane had been hit.
He would not elaborate on what was hit or where, but said French forces are focusing on the Benghazi area and US forces are focused in the west.
The US has struck Libya before. Former President Reagan launched US airstrikes on Libya in 1986 after a bombing at a Berlin disco, which the US blamed on Libya, that killed three people, including two American soldiers. The airstrikes killed about 100 people in Libya, including Gaddafi's young adopted daughter at his Tripoli compound.
The rebels said earlier that they had hoped for more, sooner from the international community, after a day when crashing shells shook the buildings of Benghazi and Gaddafi's tanks rumbled through the university campus.
"People are disappointed, they haven't seen any action yet. The leadership understands some of the difficulties with procedures but when it comes to procedures versus human lives the choice is clear," said Essam Gheriani, a spokesman for the opposition. "People on the streets are saying where are the international forces? Is the international community waiting for the same crimes to be perpetrated on Benghazi has have been done by Gaddafi in the other cities?"
Saturday's fighting galvanized the people of Benghazi, with young men collecting bottles to make gasoline bombs. Some residents dragged bed frames and metal scraps into the streets to make roadblocks.
"This city is a symbol of the revolution, it's where it started and where it will end if this city falls," said Gheriani.
Previous PostRaja aide Sadiq Batcha found dead in ChennaiNext PostREVEALED: THE INDIA CABLES FROM WIKILEAKS
Articles Select Month July 2019 June 2019 December 2018 August 2018 August 2017 March 2017 January 2017 August 2016 November 2015 July 2015 March 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 June 2012 March 2012 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 April 2008 December 2007 March 2006
Essential Educational News
About Us	Proudly powered by WordPress