Lực lượng và quyền tư lệnh chiến dịch Libya

Khu trục hạm USS Preble của Mỹ bắn hỏa tiễn vào Libya

http://www.bbc.co.uk/vietnamese/world/2011/03/110322_anti_gaddafi_forces.shtml

Dù Anh và Pháp đang tỏ ra đi đầu trong chiến dịch quân sự nhằm vào Libya, nhiều người tự hỏi có đúng là hai nước này đang đóng vai trò chỉ huy hay không, như bài phân tích của Jonathan Marcus, BBC World Service sau đây:

Phi cơ của Pháp đã bắt đầu loạt oanh kích đầu tiên tại Libya nhưng cũng vẫn là Hoa Kỳ ở vị trí quân sự trọng yếu ngay tại giai đoạn đầu với khả năng tạo ra sức tàn phá với các cơ sở phòng không của Libya.
Hôm Chủ Nhật vừa qua, Bộ trưởng Quốc phòng Hoa Kỳ, Robert Gates nói Washington sẽ trao lại quyền kiểm soát chiến dịch cho một liên minh mà Pháp, Anh và Nato dẫn đầu chỉ trong vài ngày tới.
Nhưng điều này có thể không dễ dàng.
Bộ Tư lệnh châu Phi
Vào thời điểm này, chiến sự vẫn được chỉ huy từ Bộ Tư lệnh châu Phi của Ngũ Giác Đài ở căn cứ đóng trên đất Đức.
Nằm tại Stuttgart, Bộ Tư lệnh này còn chỉ huy binh đoàn không quân đóng trong căn cứ Mỹ ở Ramstein, cũng trên đất Đức.

Lực lượng liên quân

Hoa Kỳ: phi cơ ném bom tàng hình B-2; phi cơ EA-18G Growler và AV-8B Harrier; khu trục hạm USS Barry và USS Stout bắn tên lửa tự tìm mục tiêu Tomahawk; tàu xung kích thủy bộ USS Kearsage; tàu chỉ huy USS Mount Whitney và các tàu ngầm.
Pháp: phi cơ chiến đấu Rafale và Mirage aircraft; phi cơ tiếp dầu và do thám; hàng không mẫu hạm Charles de Gaulle và các tàu hộ tống.
Anh: phi cơ Typhoon và Tornado, máy bay tiếp dầu và do thám; tàu ngầm hạng Trafalgar bắn hỏa tiễn Tomahawk; chiến hạm HMS Westminster và HMS Cumberland.
Ý: máy bay Tornado và các căn cứ không quân.
Canada: phi cơ F-18 và tuần dương hạm HMCS Charlottetown.
Tây Ban Nha: phi cơ F-18; máy bay tiếp dầu và do thám, một tàu tuần dương, một tàu ngầm và các căn cứ quân sự.
Bỉ, Đan Mạch: máy bay F-16.

Bộ chỉ huy quân sự ở đâu không chỉ là vấn đề thực tế đòi hỏi mà còn có ý nghĩa chính trị.
Các bộ tư lệnh đều có cơ sở và hệ thống thông tin liên lạc nhằm kiểm soát hoạt động quân sự một cách có hiệu quả.
Chính vì thế, khi động binh, người ra cần những bộ chỉ huy đã hoạt động tốt.
Với một sứ mệnh đa quốc gia như trận chiến Libya, Nato hiển nhiên trở nên đối tác lý tưởng, vì cũng đã từng lãnh trách nhiệm chỉ huy chiến dịch đuổi quân Serbia ra khỏi Bosnia.
Bộ tư lệnh Centcom, vốn từng chỉ huy cuộc xâm lăng Iraq để lật đổ Saddam Hussein cũng có thể đóng vai trò tương tự.
Nhưng việc lựa chọn Bộ Tư lệnh châu Phi (Africom) là dễ hiểu nhất.
Là một trong sáu bộ tư lệnh vùng của Hoa Kỳ, Afticom được thành lập mới vào năm 2007, cho thấy các quyền lợi an ninh của Mỹ tăng lên ở lục địa châu Phi.
Ý định ban đầu là để Africom nằm tại một nước châu Phi nhưng sau cùng người ta không thể nào đạt được thỏa thuận đó.
Vì thế, nó được hình thành từ phần phình ra của Bộ Tư lệnh châu Âu thuộc Ngũ Giác Đài, và nay nằm ở châu lục này.
Tới đây, Hoa Kỳ hy vọng sẽ chuyển sang vị trí hỗ trợ, cung cấp tin trinh sát và các việc khác cho liên quân tiếp tục chiến dịch Libya.
Vậy cơ quan nào có thể đảm nhận vai trò của Africom?
Khối Nato sẽ làm gì?
Phát biểu tại Hạ viện Anh, Thủ tướng David Cameron nêu rõ ý định của mình khi nói rằng ông muốn thấy "quyền chỉ huy được chuyển sang cho khối Nato".
Theo ông, Nato đã từng được thử thách, có thể kết hợp các nước với nhau, và đã từng quản lý vùng cấm bay trong quá khứ.
Nhưng chọn Nato cũng có nhiều vấn đề.
Một trong các lý do khiến Nato không chỉ huy được là vì các nước thành viên chưa đồng ý xong về cách làm đó.
Ví dụ, Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ không thoải mái cả về mục tiêu và tầm vóc của chiến dịch Libya.

Nữ quân nhân Pháp trước phi cơ Mirrage 2000 chuẩn bị không kích Libya

Các nước khác cũng có nỗi ngần ngại riêng.
Chẳng hạn Na Uy cho hay sáu phi cơ tiêm kích của họ sẽ không tham gia bất cứ phi vụ nào chừng nào không rõ quốc gia nào sẽ chỉ huy.
Ý cũng cảnh báo họ sẽ xem lại chuyện cho dùng các căn cứ nếu như Nato không nắm quyền chỉ huy.
Trước mắt, kế hoạch quân sự của Nato vẫn tiếp diễn nhưng trên cơ sở phối hợp tác chiến cấp thời.
Cũng chưa thấy phía chính trị bật đèn xanh nên như Nato nói vào lúc này, "các thảo luận đều mang tính không chính thức".
Còn một vấn đề chính trị nữa với Nato: nhờ có Liên đoàn Ả Rập ủng hộ mà nghị quyết 1973 thông qua được tại Hội đồng Bảo an LHQ.
Kể từ đó, trước dấu hiệu thoái lui từ ông Amr Moussa, tổng thư ký Liên đoàn Ả Rập (nay ông lại mới nói ông ủng hộ hoàn toàn vùng cấm bay), đã có các cố gắng lôi kéo thêm không quân từ một số nước Ả Rập tham gia.
Qatar đồng ý vào cuộc và Liên hiệp các tiểu vương quốc Ả Rập thống nhất (UAE) cũng nói sẽ tham dự.
Qatar có thể góp mặt bằng một số phi cơ Mirage do Pháp sản xuất, bên cạnh các phi đội của Pháp.
Nhưng các chính phủ Ả Rập không thích sự lãnh đạo của Nato, vì Nato đang hiện diện quá rõ ở Afghanistan trong chiến dịch gây ra nhiều điều tiếng ở không ít quốc gia Ả Rập.
Ngoại trưởng Pháp, Alain Juppe nói:
"Liên đoàn Ả Rập không mong muốn chiến dịch sẽ hoàn toàn do Nato đảm nhận trách nhiệm."
Nhưng ông Juppe cũng đồng ý rằng cần để Nato đóng một vai trò.
Như thế, một giải pháp 'tham gia không đầy đủ' xem ra lại khả thi nhất.
Michael Clark, Giám đốc Viện nghiên cứu 'Royal United Services Institute' ở London kết luận về chuyện này:
"Trao lại quyền chỉ huy cho một nước thuộc Nato nhưng vẫn dùng cơ chế điều hành của Nato sẽ có ý nghĩa cả về chính trị và quân sự."
Theo ông, vì chiến dịch xảy ra ngay bên kia bờ Địa Trung Hải và không bị thách thức nhiều về hậu cần, cách làm này xem ra ít nhiều hợp lý hơn cả.
Bấm M̀ời quý vị tham gia Diễn đàn BBC về thái độ các nước quanh chủ đề Libya.

Anh Quốc động binh: Tướng David Richards (giữa) và Bộ trưởng Quốc phòng Liam Fox tại London sau cuộc họp về Libya

Who are the Libyan rebels? U.S. tries to figure out

By Laura Rozen laura Rozen – Tue Mar 22, 6:00 pm ET

When a U.S. Air Force pilot ejected from his crashing F-15 Eagle fighter jet and landed in rebel-held eastern Libya overnight Tuesday, he soon found to his relief that he was in friendly hands.
"He was a very nice guy," Libyan businessman Ibrahim Ismail told Newsweek of the initially quite anxious American pilot. "He came to free the Libyan people." Rebel officials dispatched a doctor to attend to the pilot and presented him with a bouquet of flowers, according to Newsweek.
But the U.S. government, now engaged in a fourth day of air strikes against Libyan regime military targets, does not know very much about the rebels who now see it as a friendly ally in their fight to overthrow Muammar Gadhafi.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a 45-minute, closed-door meeting with Mahmoud Jibril, a leader of the newly formed Libyan opposition Interim National Council in a luxury Paris hotel earlier this month. But in a clear signal of America's wariness about all the unknowns, Clinton gave no public statement after their meeting and did not appear in photographs with the rebel leader. (By contrast, a week earlier French President Nicholas Sarkozy bestowed formal diplomatic recognition on the Council and was photographed shaking hands with its emissaries Jibril and Ali Essawi on the steps of the Elysee Palace.)

Middle East policy watchers note a glaring disconnect between the buoyant expectations of some rebel supporters that the international military coalition will provide direct air support for their armed struggle, and the insistence of U.S. military commanders that their mandate allows for no such thing.
The coalition mission doesn't include protecting forces engaged in combat against Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi's forces, Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of U.S. Africa Command, told reporters Monday. His mission, Ham said, is narrowly confined to preventing Gadhafi forces from attacking civilians, getting Gadhafi's forces to pull back from rebel-held towns, and allowing civilians humanitarian access to food, water, and electricity/gas supplies, Ham said.
So who are the Libyan rebels with whom we now seem (for better or for worse) to be joined with in a shared fight against Gadhafi?
One view has it that the Libyan rebels are basically peaceful protesters who found their demonstrations against Gadhafi met with bullets and had no choice but to resort to violence.
"The protesters are nice, sincere people who want a better future for Libya," Human Rights Watch Emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert told South Africa's Business Day. "But their strength is also their weakness: they aren't hardened fighters, so no one knows what the end game will be."
"This is not really a civil war between two equal powers--it started as a peaceful protest movement and was met with bullets," Bouckaert continued. "Now you have a situation where you have a professional and heavily equipped army fighting a disorganized and inexperienced bunch of rebels who stand little chance against them."
Still, the rebels are largely unknown to the American government, despite initial tentative meetings such as Clinton's and some meetings held by U.S. Ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz with opposition representatives. (Cretz is now working out of the State Department, as the United States has withdrawn its diplomatic presence.) Last week, President Barack Obama appointed an American diplomat, Chris Stevens, to be the U.S. liaison to the Libyan opposition.
"We don't have the comfort level with the rebels," said the National Security Network's Joel Rubin, a former State Department official. "We certainly know some things about them, had meetings. It's not as if there's complete blindness. But I don't think at this stage the comfort level is there for that kind of close coordination."
But the Libyan rebels seem to have found western consultants who have offered advice on reassuring buzzwords the West would like to hear. On Tuesday, the Interim National Council issued just such a soothing statement from their rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
"The Interim National Council is committed to the ultimate goal of the revolution which is to build a democratic civil state, based on the rule of law, respect for human rights including guarantying equal rights and duties for all citizens, ... [which] promotes equality between men and women, " the Council said in their statement.
The Council also "reaffirms that Libya's foreign policy will be based on mutual respect and ... respect [for] international law and international humanitarian law," the group said.
(Photo, top: Libyan rebels on the road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah: Suhaib Salem/Reuters. Photo, middle: France's President Nicolas Sarkozy shakes hands with Libyan Interim National Council emissaries Mahmoud Jibril (R) and Ali Essawi after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris March 10, 2011: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Lời Kêu Gọi

Phong Trào Yểm Trợ Tự Do Và Dân Chủ Cho Việt Nam

Kính thưa quý đồng hương tỵ nạn Cộng Sản, các bạn Thanh Niên Sinh Viên, và quý Hội Đoàn, Tổ Chức.
Đến hôm nay, Phong Trào đã có trên 70 Hội Đoàn Quốc Gia tham gia, cùng nhau chung lòng hướng về đồng bào quốc nội đang gian khổ đấu tranh chống Cộng Sản độc tài toàn trị, đòi tự do dân chủ, và bảo toàn lãnh thổ Việt Nam. Sự hợp lực này là rất cần thiết nhằm thể hiện sức mạnh liên kết giữa các Hội Đoàn Tổ Chức, thổi bùng lên cao trào cách mạng như ngọn lửa đang lan nhanh trong nước. Chúng ta siết chặt tay nhau để nói rằng: Hải ngoại luôn sát cánh và là hậu phương vững mạnh cho đồng bào quốc nội nổi dậy lật đổ Cộng Sản độc tài.
Một buổi biểu tình quy mô sẽ diễn ra vào tuần tới tại thành phố San Jose, thành phố của tình thương có đông nhất người Việt tỵ nạn Cộng Sản cư ngụ.

Thời gian: Lúc 4 giờ 00 chiều Chủ Nhật, Ngày 27 Tháng 03 Năm 2011
Địa điểm: Khu Thương Mại Lion Plaza, Thành Phố San Jose.
1818 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95122 (Góc đường King Road và Tully Road)

Để tạo hào khí cho việc chuyển lửa đấu tranh và hun đúc lòng yêu nước, chúng tôi thiết tha mời gọi quý đồng hương tham dự đông đảo và vận động thêm người thân, bạn bè của mình cùng tham dự. Lửa đấu tranh sẽ truyền tiếp nhau từ nơi này sang nơi khác, từ Houston, Washington DC đến Nam Bắc Cali và nhiều nơi khác trên khắp Hoa Kỳ, từ Âu Châu đến Úc Châu…về đến Việt Nam để tạo niềm tin vững mạnh cho đồng bào trong nước đứng lên lật đổ bạo quyền Cộng Sản. Tiếng nói của tất cả chúng ta sẽ gộp thành sóng cao, bão lớn để tiếp thêm sức và lực cho đồng bào quốc nội.


Ban Tổ Chức mong mỏi quý vị chủ báo, chủ diễn đàn, quý vị hoạt động trong các cơ quan truyền thanh, truyền hình … tiếp tay phổ biến sâu rộng Lời Kêu Gọi này đến quý đồng hương. Ban Tổ Chức cũng ước mong nhận được sự ủng hộ, đóng góp về tài chánh hoặc các thức ăn, nước uống… từ các vị ân nhân, mạnh thường quân, chủ nhân các cơ sở thương mại v.v…
Mọi chi phiếu ủng hộ, xin gởi về địa chỉ:

Phong Trào Yểm Trợ Tự Do Và Dân Chủ Cho Việt Nam
2857 Senter Road, Suite F # 45, San Jose, CA 95111.
Payable to: PhongTràoYTTDVDCCVN. Memo: biểu tình

Chúng tôi tri ân tấm lòng cao cả của quý vị trong việc sốt sắng quảng bá tin tức hoặc đóng góp công sức và tiền của cho cuộc biểu tình này.
Mọi chi tiết, xin liên lạc qua các số điện thoại sau đây:

• Ông Nguyễn Ngọc Tiên (408) 242 - 4056,
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Xin hãy đến với Phong Trào và cuộc biểu tình bằng cả tấm lòng của người tỵ nạn Cộng Sản.
Trân trọng,
Ban Phối Hợp Phong Trào Yểm Trợ Tự Do Và Dân Chủ Cho Việt Nam

French fighter planes over Benghazi

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110319/ap_on_re_eu/libya_diplomacy;_ylt=AqTMmUaZ_4YHm0SVaW7Lq4xH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTMzYmo2bGxrBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMzE5L2xpYnlhX2RpcGxvbWFjeQRjY29kZQNtcF9lY184XzEwBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2ZyZW5jaGZpZ2h0ZQ--

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Jamey Keaten, Associated Press – 10 mins ago

PARIS – A French official says Mirage and Rafale fighter jets are flying over the Libyan city of Benghazi and could strike Libyan tanks.
The official says the jets are flying over the opposition stronghold and its surroundings to ensure that Moammar Gadhafi's forces could not take any action there.
The official says the French operation could strike Libyan tanks later Saturday.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation.
He spoke right after top officials from the United States, Europe and the Arab world announced immediate military action to protect civilians as Gadhafi's forces attacked Benghazi.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
PARIS (AP) — Top officials from the United States, Europe and the Arab world have launched immediate military action to protect civilians as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces attacked the heart of the country's rebel uprising.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after an emergency summit in Paris on Saturday that French warplanes are already targeting Gadhafi's forces.
The 22 participants in Saturday's summit "agreed to put in place all the means necessary, in particular military" to make Gadhafi respect a U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday demanding a cease-fire, Sarkozy said.
"Our planes are blocking the air attacks on the city" of Benghazi, he said, without elaborating. French planes have been readying for an attack in recent days.
Earlier Saturday, Libyan government troops forces stormed into the rebel capital of Benghazi, apparently ignoring a proclaimed cease-fire and potentially complicating any allied military action.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said after the summit: "The time for action has come, it needs to be urgent."
France, Britain and the United States had warned Gadhafi Friday that they would resort to military means if he ignored the U.N. resolution.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also at Saturday's summit.
A communique from the summit participants, referring to the U.N. Security Council resolution, said: "Our commitment is for the long term: we will not let Colonel Gadhafi and his regime go on defying the will of the international community and scorning that of his people.
"We will continue our aid to the Libyans so that they can rebuild their country, fully respecting Libya's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

 Obama endorses military action to stop Gadhafi

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_us_libya;_ylt=Am__lYKV5S3phPisjPa_WbdH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTJ2NTdiOGpvBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMzE5L3VzX3VzX2xpYnlhBGNjb2RlA21wX2VjXzhfMTAEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDb2JhbWFlbmRvcnNl

– Sat Mar 19, 12:08 am ET

WASHINGTON – After weeks of hesitation and divisions among his advisers, President Barack Obama on Friday endorsed military action against Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, saying U.S. values and credibility are at stake to stop "the potential for mass murder" of innocents.
The U.S. military, which is already stretched thin by two wars and an expanding effort to assist disaster victims in Japan, would take a supporting role, Obama said, with European and Arab partners in the lead. He explicitly ruled out sending American ground forces into the North African nation.
A wide range of U.S. firepower stood ready, including Navy ships and submarines capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles with high-explosive warheads that could destroy air defense sites and other potential targets in the earliest stages of any allied military action.
In solemn remarks at the White House, Obama never used the word "war," but that is what U.S. forces could face if Gadhafi refuses to comply with United Nations demands. It is widely anticipated that a first step in imposing a no-fly zone over Libya — a tactic aimed at keeping Gadhafi's planes from attacking — would be assaults on the country's coastal air defenses.
Obama offered a string of reasons for committing to military action.
"Left unchecked, we have every reason to believe that Gadhafi would commit atrocities against his people," he said. "Many thousands could die. A humanitarian crisis would ensue. The entire region could be destabilized, endangering many of our allies and partners. The calls of the Libyan people for help would go unanswered. The democratic values that we stand for would be overrun."
That marked a major shift from the public caution expressed until recent days by Obama's top national security advisers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen. All had said that a no-fly zone or other military action would be a difficult undertaking tantamount to war, or that it could have unintended consequences.
European leaders have been keen to show support for the Libyan rebels, but the United States had hung back until this week.
The administration was divided for weeks over how to address the situation in Libya, which differed from other Arab revolts when it moved from a political uprising to an armed insurrection against a strongman.
Military leaders were most cautious, arguing that a rush to show solidarity with the rebels might be shortsighted. Clinton and some other top diplomats were in the middle, with some White House advisers and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice apparently most ready to back the use of force.
In remarks to Congress earlier this month, Gates spoke skeptically of the wisdom of military intervention in Libya. He argued that because imposition of a no-fly zone would require attacks first on Libyan air defenses, the operation would be tantamount to going to war.
The Gates view seemed to resonate in the administration until the Arab League last weekend called for U.S. authorization of a no-fly zone. At that point the prevailing U.S. sentiment seemed to shift in favor of pressing for a U.N. Security Council resolution and subsequently giving Gadhafi an ultimatum.
Obama said he was dispatching Clinton to Paris for a meeting Saturday to discuss with British, French and other partner countries the next steps in Libya. The president said he directed Gates to coordinate military planning, which has been in the works for weeks while the administration pondered the ramifications of getting involved militarily while also fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The president made no reference to a Libya's declaration of an immediate cease-fire on Friday — a statement that a rebel spokesman said was fiction.
Instead, Obama listed a series of demands for Gadhafi, including the halting of all attacks against civilians, a stop to military action against the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi and other cities and permission for international humanitarian supplies to reach civilians displaced by the violence.
"Let me be clear, these terms are not negotiable," he said.
The president was equally clear that the U.S. would not act alone.
"American leadership is essential, but that does not mean acting alone -- it means shaping the conditions for the international community to act together," he said.
Even more explicitly: "We will provide the unique capabilities that we can bring to bear to stop the violence against civilians, including enabling our European allies and Arab partners to effectively enforce a no-fly zone." He seemed to verbally underline the word "enabling," to emphasize the U.S. support role.
Analysts say Libya's air force and air defense systems, while not negligible, are decrepit by Western standards and unlikely to stand up to assault.
Defense analysts said Libya's military has been weakened by years of neglect, armed with outdated aircraft and weapons, and directed by a radar and communications system that may have limited capabilities.
They cautioned, however, that it is difficult to give an exact assessment of Libya's military abilities, particularly in the wake of the recent uprising that saw some troops defecting and taking their weapons and aircraft with them.
An assessment prepared by the Congressional Research Service this week said greater worries could come after a no-fly-zone was in effect and the U.S. and its allies had to deal with a heavily armed populace in disarray.
"The apparent proliferation of small arms, man-portable air defense missile systems, and some heavy weaponry among fighters on both sides also is leading some outside counterterrorism and arms trafficking experts to express concern about the conflict's longer term implications for regional security," the new report said.
The uprising against Gadhafi is only one of many struggles being played out in the region as long-time autocratic regimes come under pressure. Protests in Tunisia and Egypt have led to the ouster of long-time rulers, and there have been demonstrations in Yemen, Jordan and Bahrain. Protests erupted in at least three parts of Syria during the day Friday, according to state television and other source
Before his public announcement that U.S. forces would join in military action against Libya, Obama met at the White House with congressional leaders of both parties to discuss his thinking.
"The U.S. military will be playing a supportive role in this action. We will not have troops on the ground; instead we are providing strategic support where we have unique capabilities to the Arab and European nations that are taking the lead," said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. He took part in the Obama session by telephone.
Speaking earlier, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he believes Obama has authority to commit U.S. forces to participate in imposing a no-fly zone without congressional approval, but he expressed hope that Congress would bless the move.
If the U.S. military is ordered to establish a no-fly zone, a wide variety of high-tech weapons and aircraft would be sent from bases in Europe and the United States to shut down or disrupt Libya's Soviet-era air defense systems and its communications networks, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told Congress Thursday.
He said it would take about a week to establish the no-fly zone. If such a mission is ordered, he said, he expected the supersonic F-22 Raptor — a jet fighter yet to be used in combat — to play a prominent role in the initial wave. With its stealth design, the F-22 can evade radar and has advanced engines that allow it to fly at faster-than-sound speeds without using gas-guzzling afterburners.
Other fighters, such as the F-15 and F-16, would also be used, as would bombers, airlifters, refueling tankers and highly specialized aircraft such as the RC-135 Rivet Joint and the EC-130H Compass Call. The Rivet Joint is loaded with sophisticated intelligence gathering gear that allows the U.S. to spy on the enemy from the air. The Compass Call is an electronic warfare plane that disrupts an adversary's communications

World leaders launch military action in Libya

 

 

AP – U.S Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives at the Elysee palace for a crisis summit on Libya, …

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110319/ap_on_re_us/libya_diplomacy

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Jamey Keaten, Associated Press – 29 mins ago

PARIS – Top officials from the United States, Europe and the Arab world have announced immediate military action to protect civilians amid combat between Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces and rebel fighters.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after an emergency summit in Paris on Saturday that France has already taken military action against Libya.
Sarkozy said "our determination is total."
Earlier Saturday, Libyan government troops forces stormed into the rebel capital of Benghazi, apparently ignoring a proclaimed cease-fire and potentially complicating any allied military action.

Libya cease-fire aims to outflank no-fly zone

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110319/ap_on_re_af/af_libya

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI and RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press Hadeel Al-shalchi And Ryan Lucas, Associated Press – 26 mins ago

TRIPOLI, Libya – Trying to outmaneuver Western military intervention, Moammar Gadhafi's government declared a cease-fire against the rebel uprising faltering against his artillery, tanks and warplanes. The opposition said shells rained down well after the announcement and accused the Libyan leader of lying.
Wary of the cease-fire, Britain and France took the lead in plans to enforce a no-fly zone, sending British warplanes to the Mediterranean and announcing a Saturday crisis summit in Paris with the U.N. and Arab allies. In Washington, President Barack Obama ruled out the use of American ground troops but warned that the U.S., which has an array of naval and air forces in the region, would join in military action.
There should be no doubt about the Libyan leader's intentions "because he has made them clear," Obama said. "Just yesterday, speaking of the city of Benghazi, a city of roughly 700,000, he threatened 'we will have no mercy and no pity.' No mercy on his own citizens."
In a joint statement to Gadhafi late Friday, the United States, Britain and France — backed by unspecified Arab countries — said a cease-fire must begin "immediately" in Libya, the French presidential palace said.
The statement called on Gadhafi to end his troops' advance toward Benghazi, the rebel headquarters, and pull them out of the cities of Misrata, Ajdabiya and Zawiya, and called for the restoration of water, electricity and gas services in all areas. It said Libyans must be able to receive humanitarian aid or the "international community will make him suffer the consequences" with military action.
Parts of eastern Libya, where the once-confident rebels this week found their hold slipping, erupted into celebration at the passage of the U.N. resolution. But the timing and consequences of any international military action remained unclear.
Britain, France and NATO held emergency meetings Friday on using military force to enforce the no-fly zone, which was approved by U.N. Security Council on Thursday. Officials announced that the leaders of Britain, France and Germany and the chiefs of the United Nations and Arab League would join other world leaders for an emergency summit on Libya in Paris Saturday.
France's ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, told BBC Newsnight that he expected military action to begin in Libya within hours of the Paris meeting.
Misrata, Libya's third-largest city and the last held by rebels in the west, came under sustained assault well after the cease-fire announcement, according to rebels and a doctor there. The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals, said Gadhafi's snipers were on rooftops and his forces were searching homes for rebels.
"The shelling is continuing, and they are using flashlights to perform surgery. We don't have anesthetic to put our patients down," said the doctor, who counted 25 deaths since the morning.
Libya's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, denied government forces had violated the cease-fire and invited four nations to send observers to monitor compliance: Germany, China, Turkey and Malta.
"The cease-fire for us means no military operations whatsoever, big or small," he told reporters in Tripoli.
He said military forces were positioned outside Benghazi but that the government had no intention of sending them into the city.
He also invited the U.N. chief to send a fact-finding mission and asserted that the rebels had committed crimes against humanity.
But Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Gadhafi is violating the U.N. resolution. She told CNN the resolution demanded an immediate cease-fire and end to all offensive operations
"The U.S. is ready to act, along with partners from the League of Arab States and Europe," she said. "Gadhafi should be under no illusions that if he doesn't act immediately he'll face swift and sure consequences, including military action."
The rebels still hold eastern Libya, which has most of the country's oil reserves. Oil prices slid after the cease-fire announcement, plunging about $2.50 in the first 15 minutes of New York trading. They were down slightly for the week, settling at $101.07 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebels, said the opposition is considering calling Gadhafi's bluff by holding new protests in Tripoli and elsewhere in Gadhafi's western strongholds to see if his forces open fire.
"The idea is that when he cannot bomb civilians, the whole world will see that Libya does not want him," Gheriani said. "I believe his troops in Tripoli will leave him. We want to make our revolution a peaceful one again, just surround his compound and make him leave."
Gheriani and Khaled Sayh, another rebel spokesman, said shelling continued late Friday in Zintan, a western mountain town; Misrata and Ajdabiya, an eastern city that has been surrounded by government forces.
But even in advanced militaries, orders can take time to make it through the ranks, and it wasn't clear if all of Gadhafi's front-line troops had received the cease-fire directive by late Friday.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the immediate objective of any intervention was to halt violence against civilians, but insisted that the "final result of any negotiation would have to be the decision by Col. Gadhafi to leave."
The U.N. Security Council resolution set the stage for airstrikes, a no-fly zone and other military measures short of a ground invasion. Within 12 hours, Gadhafi's government announced "an immediate cease-fire and to stop all military operations," said Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa.
The U.S. was proceeding cautiously in the face of Libya's announcement, as Obama attempted to navigate between exercising too much U.S. military power and doing too little to help rebels seeking Gadhafi's ouster.
"The driving consideration is what comes next if a no-fly zone doesn't work," said Aaron David Miller, a former Mideast adviser to six U.S. secretaries of state.
"I think Gadhafi's capacity to survive has little or nothing to do with us. If anything, we've lent to his bizarre system of government through the way we've demonized him in the past. To some degree, we've played into his hands," said Miller, now with the Woodrow Wilson Center think tank.
After the resolution passed, a crowd watching the vote on an outdoor TV projection in Benghazi — the first city swept up in the uprising that began Feb. 15 — burst into cheers, with green and red fireworks exploding overhead. In Tobruk, another eastern city, happy Libyans fired weapons in the air to celebrate.
"We think Gadhafi's forces will not advance against us. Our morale is very high now. I think we have the upper hand," said Col. Salah Osman, a former army officer who defected to the rebel side. He was at a checkpoint near the eastern town of Sultan.
Western powers faced pressure to act quickly as Gadhafi's forces gained momentum.
"We're extremely worried about reprisals by pro-government forces and security agents in Libya. No one knows what's going on in the towns recaptured, and what's going on in prisons and other state security premises across the country," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. "We are very concerned that the government could resort to collective punishment and we have no illusions about what this regime is capable of."
More than 300,000 people have fled Libya since fighting began, the U.N. said Friday, and the exodus shows no signs of slowing. The U.N. said between 1,500 and 2,400 people have been crossing the borders with Egypt and Tunisia each day.
Melissa Fleming, the spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency, said officials were working with Egypt — which borders eastern Libya — to prepare for a potentially "massive influx of people fleeing the violence in Libya."
"It is also possible that the current conflict could cut off access to safe places and passage out of the country," she said.
___
Lucas reported from Benghazi, Libya. Associated Press writers Slobodan Lekic in Brussels; Jill Lawless in London; and Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.