Libya: No Fly Zone is a Go! International Effort and No Troops on the Ground

Libyan rebels in Benghazi celebrate UN's historic no-fly zone vote

Residents of Libya's de facto rebel capital of Benghazi joined in a massive street party after the United Nations Security Council approved 'all necessary measures' to protect Libyans from Col. Muammar Qaddafi's forces.







By Dan Murphy, Staff writer / March 17, 2011
Benghazi, Libya Shortly before midnight, the streets of Libya's de facto rebel capital, Benghazi, were quiet, nearly deserted.
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A few minutes after midnight, tracer bullets and celebratory machine-gun fire were racing into the air from every direction and residents piled into their cars for a massive street party.
In between, the United Nations Security Council voted by 10-0 to not only impose a no-fly zone over eastern Libya but to allow for “all necessary measures” short of an occupation to protect the country’s civilians from Col. Muammar Qaddafi, the dictator who’s ruled Libya for nearly 42 years.
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It had been a grim week for a revolution that began as a peaceful uprising against a despot on Feb. 17, with this city and many others wrested from Mr. Qaddafi’s grasp by young people armed with little more than stones and a fierce will for change.
But Qaddafi, describing his people as rats, cockroaches and terrorists, fought back fiercely. First he flattened large portions of the cities that defied him in Libya's west. Then he turned his sights on the "liberated" east by overwhelming the rag-tag rebels with the same brutal tactics.
As he encircled Ajdabiya in recent days -- the next major town west of here -- directing tank fire and rockets on civilian homes and militia positions alike, the certainty in Benghazi that they would prevail began to be replaced by doubt and fear.
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An early insistence that Libyans would finish their revolution without foreign intervention, much as neighboring Egypt and Tunisia had, changed into a desire for a internationally enforced no-fly zone. And in recent days, more and more of the uprising’s supporters have said they’d be happy for foreign air power to be directed on Qaddafi’s forces on the ground.
That’s what they got today, though when foreign action could start and whether Qaddafi will test international remain unclear.

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beardo said:

Don't count Gaddafi out

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asafan69 said:

Our president is a moron. This should have been done weeks ago. He is without doubt the worst president in U.S. history. I'd rather see Bill or Hillary as pres than this empty suit who hates America.

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