March 24, 2011

NATO Finally Agrees To Take Command of Libyan ‘Easy Part’

by Ken Layne 10:06 pm March 24, 2011

Hooray, the plan worked! Sort of … NATO will take “command” of the no-fly zone enforcement, but still refuses to have anything to do with the “dropping bombs” and “blowing shit up” part. So, America will continue the command of the blowing-shit-up part of the non-war.

Reuters: “NATO countries agreed on Thursday to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya to protect civilians against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, but fell short of a final agreement to take full command of all military operations in the North African state.”
The Independent: “The decision to run parallel campaigns, with Nato’s military headquarters planning missions against Gaddafi’s air forces, but a separate US chain of command dealing with ground attacks, will set alarm bells ringing among military planners, given the scope for confusion and duplication it brings. “

So, uh, that’s taken care of! Carry on, doing whatever!

41 comments 777 Views

{ 41 comments }

PublicLuxury March 24, 2011 at 10:23 pm

Well as long as the US is viewed as the Great Satan killing civilians and eating the head of tiny brown babies.

WIn Win

Troubledog March 24, 2011 at 10:45 pm

If neighboring Egypt takes care of ground operations, that reduces Odyssey Dawn's carbon footprint. Can we at least get some Kyoto credits for this?

DownFist Troll March 24, 2011 at 11:14 pm

Kyoto credit? Is that like an AA chip?

Sophist [غني عن ذلك] March 24, 2011 at 11:45 pm: Hello, my name is Columbia, and I'm a waraholic. I haven't had a war in…what time is it now?

gullywompr March 24, 2011 at 10:46 pm

Smooth Barry is back!!!

natoslug March 24, 2011 at 10:49 pm

Happy days are here again! FREE BEER FOR EVERYONE!!! In my living room.

Mumbletypeg March 24, 2011 at 10:54 pm

Hugs. Most of us likely already got the beer part under control. I don't know what conclusions y'all have come to these past few threads (other than weeping & gnashing of teeth, back at ya, here here) but mine is: SOMEONE needs a hug.

user-of-owls March 24, 2011 at 10:59 pm

I could especially use one about now. Bad juju on the domestic news front. You got a spare?

Mumbletypeg March 24, 2011 at 11:12 pm

Friend, if I could "parachute me there" to give you one I would.
Meanwhile it may have to be enough to get through Friday on all four cylinders, try to root out good news for an occasional purgative, and if not that, at least take aim at the trolls with both barrels.

/For what it's worth I actually enjoyed today's posts immensely, and even with the last few swings of events, the comments and the hosts (our own "Brother Leader"s — sorry Muammar) got me to think and think hard.

user-of-owls March 24, 2011 at 11:50 pm: Thanks amigo, that means a lot.

DaRooster March 25, 2011 at 10:49 am

I think I would get in trouble drinking beer with a screaming li'l kid… even if he is an hour and half north of me.
Aw, fuggit… *psh* (beer opening)

SayItWithWookies March 24, 2011 at 11:39 pm

If our options regarding command are either unnecessary duplication of effort and possibly dangerous segregation of planning in an attempt to keep the no-fly enforcement separate from the close air support role versus integrating both so that we can safely conduct the mission, I'm going with safety. We're fighting a war (not in the legal sense, but in the people-shoot-at-each-other sense) here, and there's no point in adding risk unnecessarily. So I hope our administration is doing the pragmatic thing.

Second, this won't work out in our favor right away unless there's a coup or Qaddafi abdicates. The rebels still have to get organized, find some artillery and counterattack, because right now they're driving to the front in their brothers' Toyotas and wearing blazers and khaffirs for uniforms. Their alleged military units have to start showing up and acting together now that the help has arrived.

Third, the air war over Serbia took something like 90 days. So no, we're not there yet — you should've said something before we left the restaurant.

Ken Layne March 25, 2011 at 1:35 am

You continue to be serious/thoughtful about this. Did no one tell you GADAFFI DUCK is involved? (He is head of NATO, I think.)

SayItWithWookies March 25, 2011 at 2:38 am

I know — I'm still adjusting to the cognitive disconnect of my commie peacenick apologizing president bombing the shit out of a country. Right now I'm just glad Mister Magoo isn't in charge. Although the real Mister Magoo always managed to get things to work out well in the end.

LesBontemps March 25, 2011 at 9:13 am: Mister Magoo always managed to get things to work out well in the end.

With a lot of collateral damage along the way, so yeah, what's the diff?

Lionel[redacted]Esq March 25, 2011 at 12:33 pm

And, don't forget, for it to be a really good war, we need to put together a good soundtrack. I don't think "Friday" is enough to carry the load.

HistoriCat March 25, 2011 at 12:11 am

"separate US chain of command dealing with ground attacks"
…
?
…
?? What the hell? Since when do you have ground attacks while enforcing a no-fly zone?

Crank_Tango March 25, 2011 at 1:22 am

kill all the kids that might want to fly planes some day?

Ken Layne March 25, 2011 at 1:36 am

oh good god ….

Crank_Tango March 25, 2011 at 1:50 am: it would seem a bit excessive, yes.

But it would also kill the kids influenced by the other parts of Top Gun, say the volleyball scene…if you catch my drift.

nounverb911 March 25, 2011 at 12:24 am

You know who else had to clean up a mess in North Africa?

SayItWithWookies March 25, 2011 at 12:50 am

Moshe Dayan?

trampndirtdown March 25, 2011 at 12:58 am

Humphrey Bogart and Claude Rains?

Ken Layne March 25, 2011 at 1:36 am

Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman?

SayItWithWookies March 25, 2011 at 2:30 am: The world was not ready for Ishtar. [weeps].

PocketsTheClown March 25, 2011 at 2:34 am

Indiana Jones?

LesBontemps March 25, 2011 at 9:22 am

Abdullah Ibn Saad?

tcaalaw March 25, 2011 at 9:31 am

Charles De Gaulle?

BaldarTFlagass March 25, 2011 at 10:37 am

George C. Scott & Karl Malden?

Lionel[redacted]Esq March 25, 2011 at 12:34 pm

Moses?

Jim89048 March 25, 2011 at 12:36 am

Well as long as we're not fighting under the UN flag and saluting those blue-helmeted bastards, I guess I'm OK with it.

Callyson March 25, 2011 at 1:27 am

So, America will continue the command of the blowing-shit-up part of the non-war.
Why am I having flashbacks to my econ course, with its discussion of comparative advantage? As in, the Europeans are trading their, um, something for our ability to blow shit up?
In economics, the law of comparative advantage says that two countries (or other kinds of parties, such as individuals or firms) can both gain from trade if, in the absence of trade, they have different relative costs for producing the same goods. Even if one country is more efficient in the production of all goods (absolute advantage), it can still gain by trading with a less-efficient country, as long as they have different relative efficiencies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantag...
USA! USA! USA!