Possible missed opportunities in Libya

[Rimasta]

This is my first post so be gentle with me. I have been seeing that Libyan military seems to gaining momentum against the rebels. This makes sense since they are most likely better armed and organized. Could the NATO alliance miss a rare chance to remove a weak & ill supported dictatorship teetering on collapse? It seems to me, and I'm no expert, that this is exactly what the Special Operations community in the U.S. & Europe specialize in. Helping indigenous rebels fight back against a better armed and numerically superior foe using small teams of SF troops working in close coordination with Allied aircraft easily staged out of European airfields and carriers in the Med. Some type of backing from Arab countries and provisional authorities within Libya would help legitimize it all just like in 91 with Kuwait. Could we miss a rare and golden chance to improve the long term security of the Mediterranean despite the burdens in already cash strapped military's? It could be worth the expense.

 

[STURM]

Hello Rimista, I dont know if an opportunity is being missed to improve the long term security of North Africa but I will say this, countries will do what is in their best interests, regardless of whether it's moraly wrong and contrary to what they preach. For decades Western governments have tolerated and cultivated their relationships with various governments, almost all of which were never democraticly elected, in North Africa and the Middle East, simply because it is in their interests, whether security wise or economicly. For the moment at least, Libya's neighbours for internal political reasons, and because they are worried of a spill over effect, are hardly likely to intervene in Libya. Any intervention in Libya will most probably be a purely Western effort.

On paper, the conditions in Libya, IMO, would be perfect for the U.S. army's special forces and British SAS and SBS to do what they did in Afghanistan.

 

[Spetsznaz]

US Arming Libyan Rebels?

Please read this article before advancing on the thread
America's secret plan to arm Libya's rebels - Middle East, World - The Independent

This is what I got from the article and my personal view

1) The rebels NEED air to ground missiles first priority to shoot down the mercenary piloted helicopters. So some FIM-92 stingers are in order.

2) The mortars and anti tank rockets to destroy the Libyan armor.

So here are some questions to start of the thread.

If the Libyan rebels to obtain weapons from the US through the Saudis how many of these weapons would be needed?

Also if they are supplied will they come with some sort of "handbook" in Arabic to explain how the the weapons need to be operated?

Will these weapons be enough to topple the Libyan regime?

Are these weapons needed at all?

Are any small arms in order, or don the rebels have enough?

How does arming the rebels influence the possibility of a no fly zone?

Discuss

 

[Feanor]

Merged threads. This is now a thread for the discussion of the situation in Libya in general.