Safest way would be to have some Marines establish a zone of control for chartered vessels/sealift ships to offload food and supplies. The problem with this is that it puts us on the ground and perhaps in direct conflict with Libya.

Zero business in Libya unless someone is supporting Jihad…and East Libya is apparently famous for sending AQ fighters to our battle fields. Let Allah determine their fate. They certainly do not sympathize with Christians so lets not be squirrels about it.

MSC has MPSRON One is available to support HA missions in Libya. Although I do NOT know exactly where the ships are currently. The MPS have the capability to make water, to land medical facilities and support vehicles too.

Also I would rather see relief mission performed on the Tunisian and Eqyptian sides of the borders. Staying out of Libya should be the overidding policy.

Just the same as this is how Somalia ’91 began.

I have no appetite for it, because of IRQ and AFG.

I am not looking for causation here. But, the reality is, that the reason why no one is rushing to assist (aside of the French and Brits) to assist the rebels in Libya, is the war weariness from IRQ and AFG.

That, in my estimation, is a shame. But, a reality.

So, YN2,

I am confused. You don’t want to jump into the middle of a civil war in Libya and topple a brutal dictator who has killed thousands of his own people? Because we toppled a much more brutal dictator in Iraq who killed hundreds of thousands of his own people?

Are you implying that we have a place choosing sides in this civil war, when five years ago, the term “civil war” in Iraq, however wrongly (and purposefully) applied, became the watchword for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of US forces?

Best solution – high speed ferries (or even slower, older multi-purpose small cargo vessels), from across the Med. We should stay out of this, but a good way to assist would be to offer USAID foodstuffs, and assist with fuel cost, let the Europeans handle security and distro.

Is it even possible to support rebels in Libya if it was already determined in a previous post that it’s impossible to enforce a no-fly zone?

It would be like getting into a fight between two brothers, not solve anything, and getting pummelled for interfering.

If the rebel forces can not overturn the government they need no help from outside forces, as the result is not worth the price.

Tell me what you believe the solution would solve. You think there will be a democracy there?

Why would you believe that?

LeastGuvmint,

It’s not what I want to do. It’s the psyche of the American people. I fully well know I was opening myself up to the angle you took. I said that as tongue in cheek for a reason.

Regardless of the merits of previous conflicts, there is little appetitive left amongst the People, in Congress or in the DoD for another conflict like this.

That said, as Grampa mentioned, there is NATO and the EU who’s yard this is in.

Does the World even want another US led Coalition going into Libya? Methinks not. What would be better is a NATO/EU effort lead by France and the UK with the US in a supporting role.

We’ll provide the ISR and KC-135s, even maintenance and logistcs. But, any kinetic effort should be lead by the Europeans.

I have as much support for this as I do because of how they’ve supported us in AFG and IRQ (inb4 NATO isn’t doing anything in AFG or IRQ). AFG and IRQ was as much their fight as Libya is our fight – their proximity to Libya gives them much more of a strategic imperative than it does for us. As they have supported us, we MUST support them. We’re allies, and that is what allies do.

If the rebels were holding their lines better in the East, I’d say that’d be possible to have Arab Nation’s establish a NFZ from Egypt. But, the rebels are not holding their lines. I doubt that Kadaffi would hesitate to attack Egyptian soil if a NFZ was established. Before Kaddafi considers himself anything else, he considers himself African. This tells me that he would rally his supporters around this notion and attack proper Arabs. Not only that. But, the Saudi’s and Bahraini’s have their own domestic issues to attend to. How much effort that can they really devote to any ‘expeditionary’ efforts?

Europe has to take the lead in this, if you want it to have a Muslim flavor, then where are the Turks? With these power shifts going on, I am amazed that we do not see more coming from Turkey, they are in every measure best suited to gain from these power struggles… Perhaps their silence is a sign that they are waiting to see the dust settle and then they will move to consolidate themselves as the strongest Muslim Nation in the Eastern Med and all of the Muslim World?