From USA Today:
Libyan rebels hold positions in face of airstrikes
By Jim Michaels, USA TODAYUpdated 22h 11m ago
RAS LANOUF, Libya — Libyan military jets fired rockets Monday onto this city on the Mediterranean coast, halting a westward march of rebel forces toward the capital, Tripoli.
http://bcove.me/xrxcge5c
As Western nations debated whether to enforce a no-fly zone over the country, rebels here fired anti-aircraft guns into the sky at Russian-made jets, which bombed the city for a second day.
No one was killed, but the rebels said they would not be able to take down Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi if the airstrikes continue.
Osama Najem, 31, complained that the United States was leaving the rebel forces at the mercy of their enemies. He and others said that if Western nations want Gadhafi gone, they must neutralize his air power.
DIARY: History, crowded sidewalks in Benghazi
LIBYA: Rebels committed to cause
PHOTOS: Images from the rebellion
"They only condemn Gadhafi and his sons, but there is no action," Najem said.
Britain and France were drafting a United Nations resolution that would establish a no-fly zone. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder said NATO allies agreed to step up surveillance flights over Libya to 24 hours a day. He said there has been a decrease in air attacks on rebels, so establishing a no-fly zone would have little effect.
President Obama said the United States was consulting with NATO allies on options, "including potential military options."
Obama also authorized an additional $15 million to be given to groups already providing humanitarian aid in Libya.
Obama's comments came a day after his chief of staff, William Daley, said, "Lots of people throw around phrases like 'no-fly zone' — they talk about it as though it's just a video game."
Members of the U.S. Senate, such as Republican John McCain of Arizona, have said it is time for a more muscular response from the United States to show that it stands with the rebels.
McCain, a former Navy pilot who flew combat missions over Vietnam, said Sunday that Libya's air force is not large and can be debilitated.
Some senators, including Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., want to send arms to the rebels. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that such an idea was "premature."
The anti-Gadhafi forces in the eastern half of Libya said they are trying to get to Sirte, the midway point between rebel-held Benghazi and Gadhafi's stronghold of Tripoli. The rebels had taken two cities on the coast on their way to Sirte — Bin Jawwad and Ras Lanouf, where the oil terminal there has Libya's biggest refinery, with a capacity of 220,000 barrels a day, or more than half the country's total output, according to the International Energy Agency.
The rebels were driven out of Bin Jawwad on Sunday by pro-Gadhafi forces using helicopter gunships, artillery and rockets.
In Ras Lanouf, shouts of "Allahu Akbar" could be heard Monday following bursts from anti-aircraft guns as rebels tried to target approaching aircraft. An unguided rocket dropped from a MiG fighter jet exploded in the desert, missing the rebels and sending a mammoth plume of sand into the air.
"The only advantage (Gadhafi) has is the air force," said Saleh Mostafa, 19, wearing green fatigues, black sneakers and a bandoleer of machine-gun ammunition across his chest.
The rebels, who seemed to have an endless supply of heavy machine guns, say their anti-aircraft fire has forced Gadhafi's planes to fly at high altitudes.
"The aircraft are so high they can't see their target," said Al-Mahdi Al-Faitory, 45. "They're shooting randomly."
In the past, rebel leaders have given mixed signals about a no-fly zone, partly because they don't want the rebellion to appear foreign-backed. Now they seem to have coalesced around the idea. Such a zone would "stop the bloodshed and quicken the fall of Gadhafi," said Mustafa Gheriana, spokesman for the rebels' provisional government in Benghazi.
Much of the fighting in Libya is in towns along a road that follows the Mediterranean coast. The towns are separated by desert, where herds of camels roam and shepherds tend flocks of sheep and goats. Massive oil refineries with thousands of workers take in oil from the south and load tankers bound for Europe.
In Ras Lanouf, the rebels fought in the shadow of one such refinery.
The men wore a hodgepodge of uniforms and arrived at the fighting in their own cars, or piled into pickups. Some of the ammunition they unpacked dated to the 1970s, according to their labels.
They manned anti-aircraft guns that they fired continuously, whether or not they were under attack. The loud noises set off car alarms. Others fired AK-47s into the air, unworried about wasting ammunition.
When the airstrikes hit, rebels scattered. But they did not leave.
"He's scaring people with the air force," Mostafa said. "But everyone is staying."
Contributing: Mimi Hall in Washington
Libyan rebels hold positions in face of airstrikes
By Jim Michaels, USA TODAYUpdated 22h 11m ago
RAS LANOUF, Libya — Libyan military jets fired rockets Monday onto this city on the Mediterranean coast, halting a westward march of rebel forces toward the capital, Tripoli.
http://bcove.me/xrxcge5c
As Western nations debated whether to enforce a no-fly zone over the country, rebels here fired anti-aircraft guns into the sky at Russian-made jets, which bombed the city for a second day.
No one was killed, but the rebels said they would not be able to take down Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi if the airstrikes continue.
Osama Najem, 31, complained that the United States was leaving the rebel forces at the mercy of their enemies. He and others said that if Western nations want Gadhafi gone, they must neutralize his air power.
DIARY: History, crowded sidewalks in Benghazi
LIBYA: Rebels committed to cause
PHOTOS: Images from the rebellion
"They only condemn Gadhafi and his sons, but there is no action," Najem said.
Britain and France were drafting a United Nations resolution that would establish a no-fly zone. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder said NATO allies agreed to step up surveillance flights over Libya to 24 hours a day. He said there has been a decrease in air attacks on rebels, so establishing a no-fly zone would have little effect.
President Obama said the United States was consulting with NATO allies on options, "including potential military options."
Obama also authorized an additional $15 million to be given to groups already providing humanitarian aid in Libya.
Obama's comments came a day after his chief of staff, William Daley, said, "Lots of people throw around phrases like 'no-fly zone' — they talk about it as though it's just a video game."
Members of the U.S. Senate, such as Republican John McCain of Arizona, have said it is time for a more muscular response from the United States to show that it stands with the rebels.
McCain, a former Navy pilot who flew combat missions over Vietnam, said Sunday that Libya's air force is not large and can be debilitated.
Some senators, including Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., want to send arms to the rebels. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that such an idea was "premature."
The anti-Gadhafi forces in the eastern half of Libya said they are trying to get to Sirte, the midway point between rebel-held Benghazi and Gadhafi's stronghold of Tripoli. The rebels had taken two cities on the coast on their way to Sirte — Bin Jawwad and Ras Lanouf, where the oil terminal there has Libya's biggest refinery, with a capacity of 220,000 barrels a day, or more than half the country's total output, according to the International Energy Agency.
The rebels were driven out of Bin Jawwad on Sunday by pro-Gadhafi forces using helicopter gunships, artillery and rockets.
In Ras Lanouf, shouts of "Allahu Akbar" could be heard Monday following bursts from anti-aircraft guns as rebels tried to target approaching aircraft. An unguided rocket dropped from a MiG fighter jet exploded in the desert, missing the rebels and sending a mammoth plume of sand into the air.
"The only advantage (Gadhafi) has is the air force," said Saleh Mostafa, 19, wearing green fatigues, black sneakers and a bandoleer of machine-gun ammunition across his chest.
The rebels, who seemed to have an endless supply of heavy machine guns, say their anti-aircraft fire has forced Gadhafi's planes to fly at high altitudes.
"The aircraft are so high they can't see their target," said Al-Mahdi Al-Faitory, 45. "They're shooting randomly."
In the past, rebel leaders have given mixed signals about a no-fly zone, partly because they don't want the rebellion to appear foreign-backed. Now they seem to have coalesced around the idea. Such a zone would "stop the bloodshed and quicken the fall of Gadhafi," said Mustafa Gheriana, spokesman for the rebels' provisional government in Benghazi.
Much of the fighting in Libya is in towns along a road that follows the Mediterranean coast. The towns are separated by desert, where herds of camels roam and shepherds tend flocks of sheep and goats. Massive oil refineries with thousands of workers take in oil from the south and load tankers bound for Europe.
In Ras Lanouf, the rebels fought in the shadow of one such refinery.
The men wore a hodgepodge of uniforms and arrived at the fighting in their own cars, or piled into pickups. Some of the ammunition they unpacked dated to the 1970s, according to their labels.
They manned anti-aircraft guns that they fired continuously, whether or not they were under attack. The loud noises set off car alarms. Others fired AK-47s into the air, unworried about wasting ammunition.
When the airstrikes hit, rebels scattered. But they did not leave.
"He's scaring people with the air force," Mostafa said. "But everyone is staying."
Contributing: Mimi Hall in Washington
No comments:
Post a Comment