Moammar Gadhafi(USA Today March 21, 2011) A two-day U.S. and allied air assault on Libya has inflicted heavy damage on leader Moammar Gadhafi's ability to fire missiles or attack rebels, according to Pentagon officials and reports from rebel strongholds. In Benghazi, the major rebel stronghold, residents fired weapons in jubilation Sunday and climbed on the burned-out shells of tanks destroyed by the airstrikes. They were celebrating the allied attacks, which came after Gadhafi's forces pounded the city with artillery and tank shells and entered the outskirts.
Air attacks over the weekend hit tanks, rocket launchers, radar and communications facilities of forces loyal to the Libyan strongman, Navy Vice Adm. William Gortney, staff director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon briefing Sunday. There were 124 Tomahawk missiles launched from ships and submarines on the first day of the attack. They limited Gadhafi's abiliy to shoot down allied planes with surface-to-air missiles. A three-story administration building in Gadhafi's residential compound was blasted by a cruise missile late Sunday, according to the Associated Press. It was not known whether there were casualties. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. expects to turn over control of the Libya military mission to a coalition headed either by the French and British or by NATO, "in a matter of days." "We will continue to support the coalition....but we will not have the pre-eminent role," Gates said.
Gortney said further strikes on the scale of Saturday's heavy assault with sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles may not be needed. Allied forces supposedly are not targeting Gadhafi, but Gadhafi could be in danger if he visits targeted military facilities, Gortney said. B-2 radar-evading stealth bombers, flown from an Air Force base in Missouri, destroyed several shelters that had housed Libyan warplanes at Ghaldabiya airport, according to Gortney. U.S. French and British warplanes attacked Libyan ground forces that were threatening Benghazi. Gortney said that attacks on military facilities near Tripoli, the capital, have damaged radar facilities and that sensors are detecting no Libyan radar tracking of aircraft.
The last thing we need is for the United States to become involved in another war. How long will these airstrikes last? I have no idea. We haven't fought both Afghanistan and Iraq very successfully. Why is the U.S. launching attacks on Libya? There's speculation that it's about oil. Gadhafi is a brutal dicator, however, we can't launch attacks on every country that has a dictator. As far as I'm concerned, there are no U.S. interests involved in this attack. This just goes to show you that Obama isn't involved in the decision-making. Who's in charge and who's involved in making the decision for the U.S. to strike Libya?
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