Wednesday - March 23, 2011

Who’s in charge?Germans pull forces out of NATO, right.both ovem. who’s on first?

What do I say about this turn of events?

Perhaps the question should be ... what do you folks say?  Anyone surprised? Didn’t think so.

If Gaddafi was able to read this, he’d think he was at war with the Keystone Cops. Or The Marx Bros. Maybe both.

Who’s in charge? Germans pull forces out of NATO as Libyan coalition falls apart
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

* Tensions with Britain as Gates rebukes UK government over suggestion Gaddafi could be assassinated

* French propose a new political ‘committee’ to oversee operations

* Germany pulls equipment out of NATO coalition over disagreement over campaign’s direction

* Italians accuse French of backing NATO in exchange for oil contracts

* No-fly zone called into question after first wave of strikes ‘neutralises’ Libyan military machine

* U.K. ministers say war could last ‘30 years’

* Italy to ‘take back control’ of bases used by allies unless NATO leadership put in charge of the mission

* Russians tell U.S. to stop bombing in order to protect civilians - calls bombing a ‘crusade’

* Deep divisions between allied forces currently bombing Libya worsened today as the German military announced it was pulling forces out of NATO over continued disagreement on who will lead the campaign.

A German military spokesman said it was recalling two frigates and AWACS surveillance plane crews from the Mediterranean, after fears they would be drawn into the conflict if NATO takes over control from the U.S.

The infighting comes as a heated meeting of NATO ambassadors yesterday failed to resolve whether the 28-nation alliance should run the operation to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, diplomats said.

Yesterday a war of words erupted between the U.S. and Britain after the U.K. government claimed Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate target for assassination.

U.K. government officials said killing the Libyan leader would be legal if it prevented civilian deaths as laid out in a U.N. resolution.

But U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates hit back at the suggestion, saying it would be ‘unwise’ to target the Libyan leader adding cryptically that the bombing campaign should stick to the ‘U.N. mandate’.

President Barack Obama, seeking to avoid getting bogged down in a war in another Muslim country, said on Monday Washington would cede control of operations against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces within days, handing the reins over to NATO.

But Germany and European allies remain unwilling to have NATO take on a military operation that theoretically has nothing to do with the defence of Europe.

Today the German defence ministry announced Berlin had pulled out of any military operations in the Mediterranean.

A ministry spokesman said two frigates and two other ships with a crew of 550 would be reverted to German command.

Some 60 to 70 German troops participating in NATO-operated AWACS surveillance operations in the Mediterranean would also be withdrawn, according to the ministry.

Berlin isn’t participating in the operation to impose a no-fly zone in Libya and abstained on the U.N. resolution authorising it.

In a shock admission, U.K. ministers have admitted the intervention in Libya could last for up to ‘30 years’.

Asked for an estimate, British Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey said: ‘How long is a piece of string? We don’t know how long this is going to go on.

‘We don’t know if this is going to result in a stalemate. We don’t know if his capabilities are going to be degraded quickly. Ask me again in a week.’

In the U.S., Obama has made it clear he wants no part of any leadership role in Libya.

The President has already been criticised for continuing with a tour of Latin America as the military operation over Libya began. And yesterday he insisted again that while Gaddafi must go, the U.S. is not prepared to remove him by force, but merely to enforce the no-fly zone.

Even that hesitant stance, which has already earned him the title of the Great Vacillator, left him criticised for not seeking proper approval from Congress before sending the American military in.

And after reports emerged that Gaddafi’s son had been killed in a kamikaze strike yesterday, fresh questions over what exactly the U.S. intends to achieve in Libya emerged.

With Turkey digging its heels in and the Arab League suspicious, it has been pointed out that Mr Obama has fewer coalition partners in Libya than George Bush did at the start of the Iraq war.

He was criticised by both Republicans and Democrats over his decision to commit the U.S. military before going to Congress.

MORE HERE PLUS PHOTOS

Posted by peiper     on 03/23/2011 at 06:22 PM   
Filed Under: • EUro-peons •  
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