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May 23, 2006
When Libya's Mummar Qaddaf Got His Butt Kicked
This story is contributed by TomR. Thank you Tom.
In President Reagan's own words! Here's a good and 'behind the scenes' history lesson on how and why a one-time and big-time Islamic terrorist got his butt kicked, that stayed 'kicked' from 1986 to 2006! Qaddafi was the first of the modern day Islamist/terrorist to get hammered by any Western nation and as usual, it was America that had to do the job. Notice some adversaries have remained-France and the Western news media.
"This was one of the times, incidentally - while we were trying to come up with targets that would let us make our point but not hurt innocent people - when I really lost my patience with the press. Through the inevitable leak, several reporters picked up a scent that we might be planning an operation against Qaddafi in response to the disco bombing. In some cases, they got fairly accurate information, and some of their reports virtually announced to Qaddafi that the United States was planning to attack him. We tried to talk them out of revealing these state secrets - as far as I was concerned, maintaining secrecy in a war against terrorism is crucial - but they would have none of it. Every time they got a leak, they ran with it, even though it meant risking human lives.""On April 13, we settled on the principal target: Qaddafi's military headquarters and barracks in Tripoli, which was located well away from civilian targets. Housed in this compound was the intelligence center from which Libya's worldwide program of state-sponsored terrorism was directed. The attack was not intended to kill Qaddafi; that would have violated our prohibition against assassination. The objective was to let him know that we weren't going to accept his terrorism anymore, and that if he did it again he could expect to hear from us again. It was impossible however, to know exactly where he would be at the time of the attack. We realized that it was possible, perhaps probable, that he might be at or near the intelligence center when our planes struck."
"France and Italy refused to permit our F-111 bombers to cross their air space on the way from a base in England to Tripoli to join carrier-based planes from the Sixth Fleet in the attack. As a result, the F-111's had to detour more than a thousand miles over the Atlantic and Mediterranean; this would shorten their effective range and, by leaving them with less reserve fuel, would possibly make them more vulnerable during the attack. The refusal upset me, because I believed all civilized nations were in the same boat when it came to resisting terrorism. At least in the case of France, however, economic considerations prevailed: While it publicly condemned terrorism, France conducted a lot of business with Libya and was typically trying to play both sides."
Please see the website HERE for more of this subject. Thank you.
Posted by Wild Thing at May 23, 2006 04:11 PM
Comments
Excellent Tom, thanks WT. This is an example of decisive action that left no doubt that total annihilation was imminent for Libya, Qaddafi even understood. Unlike the Clinton response of an aimless Cruise missle, or Carters "lets make a deal" approach or let the UN do it. Even though France and Italy fraternized with the enemy just like they did in WWII the ragheads hate them just the same. We saved them from the jackboots, funny moustaches and the Sieg Heils but they've earned their Burka's and Thobe's, for all their dealing with the enemy for the past 30 years. France has the moral fiber of a whore on heroin and will sell itself to the lowest denominator. Like you said the press was there to tip them off as usual, traitors being held above the law.
Posted by: Jack at May 23, 2006 08:55 PM
What really upsets me is not so much the news media but the people leaking the information to the news media. I so wish they could take these leakers, these treasonous SOB’s, and just shoot them. I mean shoot them right on the spot, DEAD! 230 grains of Full Metal Jacket, right between the eyes, about ½ inches above the bridge of the nose. No fancy lawyers, no long trials...just pronounce guilty and shot. I don’t care how much brass they wear or stripes on their arm or what their GS level is...Shoot these products of inferior breeding. And then, go after the reporters who printed the material with indifference to possible lives that may be lost.
Posted by: BobF at May 23, 2006 09:31 PM
