OPERATION ODYSSEY DAWN - LIBYA CONFLICT

Lejeune Marines prepare to deploy off Libyan coast

CAMP LEJEUNE (WTVD) -- Twenty-two hundred Marines and sailors from Camp Lejeune are preparing to deploy off the coast of Libya in northern Africa. They said goodbye to their families Monday afternoon, and they'll be leaving in the days ahead.

"There's always in the back of your mind what if, what could happen," Marine wife Carrie Cochran said.

Cochran, like the other wives, is confident her Marine is prepared for the mission.

"As long as he knows how to do his job and he keeps his concentration going, he can take care of his Marines then he can bring everybody home," Cochran said.

The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit was set to deploy to the Mediterranean later this year but that got bumped up once NATO forces launched an air assault on Libya.

The unit is relieving the 26th MEU, which took part in some of the initial assaults. The 22nd is a Marine, air and ground task force. Some are trained for aviation combat, others for ground combat. They can handle evacuations and humanitarian missions too.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8039326

U.S. says Libyan rebels may sell oil

(Reuters) - The United States on Monday gave a green light to sales of Libyan crude oil from rebel-held territory, giving a potential boost to forces battling Muammar Gaddafi.

A U.S. Treasury Department official said Libyan rebels would not be subject to U.S. sanctions if they avoid entities linked to Gaddafi's regime, which would allow them to sell oil under their control.

"The rebels are not part of the government of Libya. They are not subject to the sanctions," the official said.

But the rebels, who retook a number of oil fields and terminals in eastern Libya over the weekend and were advancing west toward Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, must first establish clear lines of control and payment systems that do not involve Libya's National Oil Corp, its central bank nor any other government entity, the official said.

U.N. diplomats echoed these sentiments, helping further clarify the status of rebel-held oil, which could provide vital revenues to forces trying to topple Gaddafi.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/28/us-libya-oil-rebels-idUSTRE72R6X620110328

Very interesting that the course-reversal from 'no boots on the ground' to 'boots on the ground' comes out in the media at the same time as 'here comes the oil.' The oil-selling makes sense from the perspective of the rebels.....with oil $$ they can buy weapons along with people who know how to operate them.....& they can buy military expertise. The way this news came out will surely give a boost to the stock markets.

I'm sad beyond belief for our troops. As the WTVD article Golf posted says.....US troops have been there in the fight all along. I realize now that anyone familiar with a map of US military installations would have known this fact--meaning Boehner, McConnell, & Kucinich (& Fox, MSNBC, & CNN) *knew all along* that US troops were in there.....yet none of them revealed that boots were already 'on the ground.'

Prayers for our troops & their families during this nightmare & prayers for a swift conclusion. Prayers also for our many other US troops stationed around the world especially those in dangerous areas--as well as for their families.

No doubt in my mind that we have had special forces there well before the bombing started. There has to be people on the ground to "paint" the targets for accurate bombing

Phillymg wrote:

Gigi wrote:I am glad that Obama is saving hundreds of lives but what about the millions of unemployed who are suffering in America.

President Obama Says The Mission In Libya Is Succeeding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSk5ZyzFw5U

Obama is overly optimistic as usual.....in his typical spin mode.....

Theoretically if NATO's intervention succeeds about 6-1/2 million people would be saved.....give or take a few thousand die-hard Gaddafi supporters.

However there's no evidence that any success is happening.....

Donald Trump has been ticking me off lately.....but he's right about 1 thing.....since the Arab League wanted the US & EU to intervene.....then the Arab countries should help pay for the military costs.....& since China is the primary beneficiary of Libya's *oil*.....then China should help pay for the military costs.

China's laughing all the way to the bank.....

Trump's comments made sense and was very progressive BUT sadly after he made this "business friendly" comment he jumped on the "birther" bandwagon. The above comments were made on "The View" last week where he also alluded to there being something questionable about Obama's reluctance to distribute his birth certificate. Whoopie called it "BS", lots of media attention that night and the following morning "The View" staff provided audience with a view of a copy of Obama's birth certificate, where it was housed in Chicago, IL and authentication of it by a non-profit organization. Trump's valid suggestion to have others help pay military costs was diluted by the nonsensical birther comments... My interest in Trump as a Presidential Candidate was peaked util the birther comment. I was genuinely shocked at Trump's naivete with birther comment..as he's considering running for President and stated he had NOT seen Obama's birth certificate and it only took The View staff one "google" search to locate it.

http://www.infowars.com/obama-raises-american-hypocrisy-to-a-higher-level/

Just like what I said about what they said on Bloomberg yesterday. I now see that CNN is doing it too. Am I the only one on this site that is concerned about this?

In Your Face: CNN Segment on Libya Entitled “New World Order”
http://www.infowars.com/in-your-face-cnn-segment-on-libya-entitled-new-world-order/

it is ok to spend $600 mil last week bombing Libya but to help people who support this country they have no money.

fellow 99ers.................''we ain't never see daylight again''

they will never help us with this problem of an economy......the people that run ads for jobs freak when you work in the door because you are older and have a background

good luck.......marry someone rich, ugly and lonely
I think that is the only way you will see money!

Why are we still in Libya? It looks like war to me.

"U.S. aircraft and a destroyer fired at a Libyan destroyer after reports emerged that it and other craft “were firing indiscriminately at merchant vessels,” U.S. Africa Command said Tuesday."

http://50kview.blogspot.com/2011/03/mar-30-2011-us-aircraft-fire-on-libyan.html

Al-Qaeda 100% Pentagon Run
http://www.infowars.com/al-qaeda-100-pentagon-run/


People should read this whole article and watch every video that is in it and click on everyone of the tons of links that are in it. Choosing to ignore it will not make it untrue. There is so much proof it is insane. It is time to wake up!

They "admitted" today that there have been CIA agents in Libya for awhile now helping with the bombing.

mrgolf wrote:They "admitted" today that there have been CIA agents in Libya for awhile now helping with the bombing.

Duh! CIA agents are in charge of every overthrow of governments in the world always.

Jen wrote:

mrgolf wrote:They "admitted" today that there have been CIA agents in Libya for awhile now helping with the bombing.

Duh! CIA agents are in charge of every overthrow of governments in the world always.

They are not counted as "boots on the ground."

They are not counted as "boots on the ground."

It's double-speak. Up is down. War is peace (and humanitarian). 2+2=5.

I've said it before and I will say it again this is not going to have a good ending

Second, Thomas Mountain at Counterpunch raises some unpleasant questions about the Benghazi rebels. Benghazi, the city in Libya closest to Italy, has for years been a center of human trafficking from sub-Saharan Africa. An average of a thousand black African refugees a day pass through Benghazi in hopes of escaping to Europe. So Benghazi was the seat of an enormous complex of gangs controlling the human trafficking trade, many of them exploiting their human cargo as ruthlessly as the "coyotes" on the U.S.-Mexican border. The Gadhafi government, according to Mountain, had been unsuccessfully trying to suppress this trade for years. As a result, the criminal underworld of Benghazi has been a prime supporter of the rebellion.
Benghazi is also home to a large number of black African guest workers who do work that Libyans regard as "dirty." Native youth, who refuse to take these jobs, are frequently unemployed and idle. So they wind up joining youth gangs that engage in racist harrassment of black African guest workers. These discontented youth were at the heart of the protest movement.
http://original.antiwar.com/kevin-carson/2011/04/14/libya-a-pig-in-a-poke/

Brits join ground fight in Libya

BRITISH military officers are set to hit the ground in Libya to bolster rebels fighting tyrant Colonel Gaddafi.
The advisors will go into the country's second city of Benghazi — the stronghold of the pro-democracy opposition.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said today: "The National Security Council has decided that we will now move quickly to expand the team already in Benghazi to include an additional military liaison advisory team.

"This contingent will be drawn from experienced British military officers."

Mr Hague said the move was needed to help protect civilians in Libya and was compatible with the United Nations resolution which authorised a no-fly zone.

He said in a statement: "The United Kingdom is strongly committed to the effective implementation of the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3535492/Brits-take-ground-fight-to-Gaddafi.html

(Reuters) - Libyan government troops pounded the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata on Thursday, undeterred by Western threats to step up military action against Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said troops loyal to Gaddafi were carrying out "vicious attacks" on the city and might have used cluster bombs on civilians.

In Misrata. rebels and Gaddafi loyalists were fighting a ferocious battle, often at close quarters. Streets were barricaded with orange dump trucks, parts of cars and even bed frames and tree trunks.

Libya's third largest city, the only rebel stronghold in the west of the country, has been under siege by Gaddafi's forces for seven weeks. Hundreds of people have been killed.

I can't believe that we find ourselves yet in another damned war.

US launches first Predator drone strike in Libya

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States launched its first Predator drone strike in Libya on Saturday, the Defense Department said in a statement.

It did not provide details on the target of the strike, saying only that it occurred in the early afternoon local time in Libya.

Gates announced on Thursday that the unmanned aircraft would be used in Libya for Hellfire missile attacks on the forces of leader Muammar Gaddafi.

General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. plan called for keeping two patrols of armed Predators above Libya at any given time, permitting better surveillance -- and targeting -- of Gaddafi's forces. The drones are based in the region but typically flown by remote control by pilots in the United States.

The U.S. military has been using other drones to target militants along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. The drones in Libya were not taken from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

When "we" stop believing the "hogwash" that is "western" journalism...
American media almost lust after high tech gadgetry, whose sole purpose is more, and more better killing...

Not saying that the alternative points of view that trickle out for "alternative" sources should be taken as gospel fact...Just saying think before we act....

Mr Obama has won the Nobel Peace prize??????, is that correct???

Here is an excerpt...of "alternate" media...

Seems the Nato backed forces in Serbia may also have been underworld figures and gangster types, who actually sold organs on the open market from dead victims.....

For that matter, one of the "diverse" rebels profiled recently by the Washington Post had fought the U.S. in Iraq, his brother was a suicide bomber who killed U.S. Marines, and another brother is an al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan. But Abu Sultan declares his undying devotion to the ideals of liberal democracy — so that’s all right, then.

http://original.antiwar.com/malic/2011/03/25/another-evil-little-war/