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No Decision Yet from UNSC on Libya No-Fly Zone | |||||
2011-03-17 | |||||
Negotiations among members of the U.N. Security Council ended Wednesday without consensus on a draft resolution authorizing a No-Fly Zone over Libya, where forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi are bearing down on rebel strongholds in the eastern part of the country. Russia pushed for a separate cease-fire resolution, while the United States said the council might need to consider measures that go beyond a No-Fly Zone. After the day-long consultations, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters that Washington wants a broad range of actions that will effectively protect civilians and increase the pressure on the Gadhafi regime to stop the killing and allow the Libyan people to express themselves freely and peacefully, but she did not detail what those measures might be.
The request for the No-Fly Zone came from the Arab League, and Ambassador Rice said Arab leadership and participation in a possible No-Fly Zone would be very important.
But some Western diplomats said they rejected the Russian proposal because it "had no teeth" and would not have been stronger than resolution 1970, which the council adopted two weeks ago. That resolution imposed financial and travel sanctions on the Gadhafi government, as well as an arms embargo and a referral to the International Criminal Court.
LibyaÂ’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador, who is allied with the opposition National Transitional Council, told reporters that mercenaries working for Colonel Gadhafi are moving in a column of more than 400 vehicles toward the city of Ajdabiya with instructions to kill everyone and destroy every building. Ibrahim Dabbashi warned that Colonel Gadafi had also gathered forces in the countryÂ’s western mountains and planned to move on Berber villages there, which he said would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing. Despite the military escalation Dabbashi said the rebels could hold off the Gadhafi forces and protect their eastern stronghold of Benghazi, but he nevertheless urged the council to adopt a resolution quickly. Council diplomats said they believe the No-Fly Zone resolution will come to a vote on Thursday.
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Posted by:Steve White |
#10 If you whack Daffy, who do you get? Bad as he is, I bet the successor is worse. Best to just stay on the sidelines and watch (I am shocked to agree with Zero!) |
Posted by: Glenmore 2011-03-17 23:30 |
#9 Why should one assume that Jeremiah Wright's pupil actually wants to oust Gaddafi? This is the administration that supported a communist takeover of Honduras. |
Posted by: Flavising Barnsmell9042 2011-03-17 14:29 |
#8 mercenaries working for Colonel Gadhafi are moving in a column of more than 400 vehicles toward the city of Ajdabiya with instructions to kill everyone and destroy every building. Hama Redux. Oh - and Dribble? Your prose still sucks. |
Posted by: Pappy 2011-03-17 12:21 |
#7 Susan, after lunch, will move on. Don't blame her. It was Bummer who put her there and Bummer, as we all know, is busy with more important matters such as planning his upcoming weekend getaway to Rio de Janeiro. |
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-03-17 11:57 |
#6 If I dithered this much on my Federal income taxes, the the IRS would send me nasty letters followed by arrest and take my stuff in a NY minute. |
Posted by: JohnQC 2011-03-17 11:55 |
#5 Exactly right, P2K, and thanks for that important reminder. |
Posted by: Steve White 2011-03-17 09:15 |
#4 Susan, after lunch, will move on. Susan and her ink closed their eyes, ears, and mouths during the Cambodian Holocaust. Why would any expect less for what's about to unfold? |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-03-17 05:14 |
#3 The international community seems incapable of organizing a panic aboard a doomed submarine. |
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-03-17 03:11 |
#2 Why has the UN Sec Council not made a decision yet? They are waiting for the last of the rebels to be crushed. At that point, a no fly zone and other actions will be academic. Then they can go back to their canapes and champagne, clucking to one another about how they tried, secure in their deluded belief that they matter. America elected Obama. The world WANTED Obama. Obama is fecklessness personified, and the worst thing, to me, is many Americans like that. So. May they, these supporters of the feckless, eat the ashes of those they have doomed. And may history remember their inaction. |
Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2011-03-17 01:32 |
#1 See also WAFF > CHINA PREVENTING UN ACTION ON LIBYA [NFZ]: FRANCE | A BRITISH AND FRENCH DRIVE TO IMPOSE A NO-FLY-ZONE OVER LIBYA FAILED TO IMPRESS AROUND THE US, RUSSIA, AND OTHER EUROPEAN POWERS, NOTABLY GERMANY. Also from WAFF > [Arnaud de Borchgrave] COMMENTARY: A PERFECT GLOBAL STORM, for the USA via Gaddafi, Japan Quake-Tsunami Disaster, + Bahrain [Iran-vs-Saudi-Arabia for domin of Persian Gulf]. IIUC ARTIC = Not unlike Great Britain, the USA = USDOD does not have enough aircraft to suppor a proper NFZ UNLESS THE USA DIVERTS SIGNIFICANT AIR COMAT, SUPPORT ASSETS FROM OTHER THEATERS WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED [read, AFPAK now Japan, Bahrain?]. * CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > LIBYAN REBELS' MIG-23's SINK TWO "OSA" GUNBOATS + STRAFE KHADAFI TANKS | [Defensetech.org] LIBYAN REBELS MAY USED A MIG-23 TO SINK TWO OF GHADAFI'S WARSHIPS. * NEWSMAX > GADDAFI ATTACKS BENGHAZI [Airport]: WAR OVER IN 48 HOURS | GADDAFI ATTACKS REBELS' FINAL STRONGHOLD. INQUIRING REBELS wanna know, "WHAT ARE THEY [NATO, UNSC] WAITING FOR"??? |
Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-03-17 01:30 |