reply to post by stumason
Hi Stumason,
You are critical but are offering us ZERO analysis of what is going on. So far just your sour grapes about another ATSer's opinion. Please kindly
provide your own explanation of what is going on, or is your take the standard issue propaganda we're bombarded with by the mainstream news outlets ?
We have been provided no intelligence proving that the French Air Strikes were justified, only vague statements of ground movements near Benghazi.
Then after the inordinately imprecise statement of "a vehicle strike" we received footage of an undefined Jet Fighter apparently shot down directly
over the city of Benghazi, yet later we heard rumors that three armored vehicles or tanks were bombed.
If the Coalition really wanted a cease fire, then they would have Ceased Fire after stopping any alleged ground movements, which they claim to have
achieved. The Coalition instead went on immediately and without direct provocation (to our knowledge - this remains to be verified) to make numerous
Air Strikes on passive land targets such as Command Centers and Radar Installations, by way of Bombing with French Mirage Jets and British Tornado
Jets as well as sea launched US Tomahawk Missiles. This isn't, by any stretch, a measure of Policing or enforcing a NO FLY ZONE, but one of direct
Military Air Assault.
Regarding the Rafale, it is still one of the SUPERIOR Air Strike Fighter Jets despite it not being recent. The French were hoping beyond hope that
Qaddafi was buying a few as its First Client 4 years ago. It is very overpriced and therefore a very hard item to sell. France has them and was
unable to impose them to others in the European Union. Were I seeking air superiority I would consider their purchase.
Pray tell us what other
fighter jet can out maneuver a Rafale in a dog fight? Proving its capabilities in 2011 combat is useful for marketing purposes and
Image
Building for the entire French Military Industrial Complex which is maybe larger than you suspect.
The British are themselves positioning their own Tornado aircraft in view as having met a "momentous decision" of David Cameron to undertake missions
3000 miles in distance which is an important event given the current
difficulty in renewing the British Defense Budget. If that isn't a
product positioning and public opinion oriented analysis of the usage of Military Assets, then strike me stupid. This statement was made on the
English version of France's international News Television station France24.
Regarding Corsica you obviously know precious little about that Island or its people. It is a place where many things can happen without much control
of the official authorities. French military police (Gendarmes) routinely have their cars and lodgings blown up and the Air Force base personnel are
generally 'tolerated' by the local population. If you find it that hard to land a fighter jet on a flat airstrip inside a Military Base then that's
your call, your judgment. In flight refueling saved them precious seconds in a 6-hour round trip mission. Makes sense. Or is there possibly a
political dimension to that choice, Corsicans maybe not wanting to be associated with a military assault by 'la Metropole" as they call mainland
France ?
As we speak Qaddafi after playing the role of a barrier to Islamic Fundamentalism is calling on all beleivers to support his battle against the
"Crusaders" and unfortunately for we Westerners the ongoing Globalist attack against this Dictator is making us all out to be just that, Crusaders who
for no legitimate reason are invading a Muslim nation. If this propaganda ploy on his behalf works, we can expect mild to severe onslaughts on many
fronts and in many locations, close and far from Libya. Our best hope is that the UN Security Council will ROPE IN the Coalition to restrain its
actions to "more civilized behavior" unless they are out to make us look like Barbarians attacking a nation which never provoked us or posed any
security risks to our interests or populations.
And please.... spare us the recent human rights vocation which recently revealed itself to our world leaders who have never given a sneeze about
anyone's life or liberties unless forced to by institutional or legal restraints.
Members of the Arab League were alleged to have been surprised that no member of the Security Council vetoed Resolution 1973 thinking that they were
only paying lip service to a proposal that would never go through, and only having done so regarding the establishment of a NO FLY ZONE and not the
military onslaught against Libya.
GS
edit on 20-3-2011 by Getsmart because: of typos.