Topic: War and Peace News - on April 2, 2011 at 12:18:00 PM CEST
Operation Unified Protector (was Odyssey Dawn) explained (Day 14)
In Brega, the Libyan oil town located in the Sirte basin SSE of Benghazi, rebels are pressing on to the front line. More uniformed and better disciplined soldiers seem to be bolstering the usual disorganised opposition fighters, but neither side is currently able to claim control of the town. Rebels without proper training and equipment that weakened the oppositors at the front, are now used as backup force since their great enthusiasm is not enough and in the past days they were getting trounced by Gaddafi’s better trained and equipped soldiers. However, since Friday Apr. 1, the Associated Press has reported that only former officers and volunteers with at least a basic training are allowed to serve on the front lines: “the better organized fighters, unlike some of their predecessors, can tell the difference between incoming and outgoing fire. They know how to avoid sticking to the roads, a weakness in the untrained forces that Qaddafi’s troops have exploited. And they know how to take orders”.
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Topic: War and Peace News - on April 2, 2011 at 9:40:00 AM CEST
Operation Unified Protector (was Odyssey Dawn) explained (Day 13)
Rather than decisive, the recent handover of the operations in Libya to the NATO took place when Gaddafi’s forces seems to be more effective on their attacks to the rebels. Oppositors continue to retreat from former strongholds of Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad along Libya’s north-eastern coast Ras Lanuf has put the situation while Misratah is still under attack of loyalist troops.
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Topic: War and Peace News - on April 2, 2011 at 9:39:00 AM CEST
Operation Unified Protector (was Odyssey Dawn) explained (Day 12)
It’s somehow clear that the coalition aircraft are playing an important role not only enforcing the No-Fly Zone over Libya or protecting the civilians from being attacked by Gaddafi’s forces, but also and above all in marking the extent of the rebel’s gains or retreats. If and when allied aircraft strike loyalist forces, the oppositors are able to advance in spite of their equipment or (lack of) organisation; when, like it seemed to happen during most of Day 12, the number and intensity of strikes on ground tagets decreases, the rebels are compelled to beat a rapid eastward retreat. Some explained the series of gains and subsequent retreats as a sign that Air Power is not enough when not backed by a direct ground intervention while, in my honest opinion, at least in this theatre, it’s the opposite. For the moment, it’s not a problem of being on the ground but a problem of being compelled to strike targets within the mandate of a United Nations resolution that gives little chance for offensive or pre-emptive operations required to render Gaddafi unable to harm his own people.
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