Libyan bombing alone will not budge Gaddafi, UK officials warn

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Almost three months into the campaign of air strikes, Britain and its Nato allies no longer believe bombing alone will end the conflict in Libya, well-placed government officials have told the Guardian.

Instead, they are pinning their hopes on the defection of Muammar Gaddafi's closest aides, or the Libyan leader's agreement to flee the country.

"No one is envisaging a military victory," said one senior official who echoed Tuesday's warnings by Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, head of the navy, that the bombing cannot continue much beyond the summer.

Stanhope, whose comments caused fury in Downing Street, was expressing publicly what many senior defence officials say in private, officials made clear.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/14/libyan-bombing-will-not-budge-gaddafi

[atreides1]

1. Then I guess....

....the Brits, French, and Italians better start getting their ground troops ready for battle with the Libyan military!

Shouldn't be too difficult for them, after all of the bombing the Libyan army is definitely under equipped.

[KG]

2. the cruise missiles of freedom didn't quite get the job done. who'da thunk it?

[No Elephants]

3. "No one is envisaging a military victory," Where have I heard that before?

[joshcryer]

4. Tripoli bides time as Gaddafi support ebbs away

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/14/tripoli-support-gaddafi-ebbs-away">Tripoli bides time as Gaddafi support ebbs away
In the late afternoon the cafe was full of men smoking and drinking coffee, mint tea or strawberry juice. It was a very public setting, but the businessman judged that he was in like-minded company and so did not bother to lower his voice.

"Gaddafi is losing support every day," he said, placing another small coal on top of his shisha pipe. "If he wanted peace, he would have quit."

...

"Ninety-five per cent of people want him to leave, not just because of politics, but because of our desire for a return to normal life," the businessman said.

Foreign reporters are not permitted to work freely in Tripoli, so obtaining a genuine sense of people's feelings here is difficult. But on several furtive trips around the city without government minders, it was possible to talk to a range of residents on the streets. The picture that emerged was of a people weary of the inconveniences of war, and weary of being held hostage to the whims of one man - a people now just waiting for the end.

[provis99]

5. and so America loses yet another war.

[Bragi]

6. What more do these people want?

We've bombed their cities and picked out a new government for them so they can enjoy democracy, so what more do they expect from us?

:sarcasm:

[bemildred]

7. Bombing alone never does. nt

[L. Coyote]

8. And, they said a few days is all it would take. LIARS as usual.

[Nossida]

9. NO US Troops

Then by all means England and France,
send your own Troops into Libya. The
US is quite busy with Afghanistan,
Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, etc, etc, etc.
That French Midget Sarkozy is no where
to be found. This so called Humanitarian
Intervention was the brainchild of the
French, and the Brits. Let them send in
Troops, because if you had not noticed
Qaddafi has gone no where, and this
farce has become a Quagmire. Obama said,
"Days Not Weeks".

No US Troops for this French Colonial War.
Do it yourself, midget.