Air Force Times: AF, Navy still flying Libya missions
Air Force and Navy aircraft are still flying hundreds of strike missions over Libya despite the Obama administration’s claim that American forces are playing only a limited support role in the NATO operation.In other news, Obama still a politician, mouth still moves.
An Africa Command (AFRICOM) spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that since NATO’s Operation Unified Protector (OUP) took over from the American-led Operation Odyssey Dawn on March 31, the U.S. military has flown hundreds of strike sorties. Previously, Washington had claimed that it was mostly providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and tanker support to NATO forces operating over Libya.
“U.S. aircraft continue to fly support [ISR and refueling] missions, as well as strike sorties under NATO tasking,” AFRICOM spokeswoman Nicole Dalrymple said in an emailed statement. “As of today, and since 31 March, the U.S. has flown a total of 3,475 sorties in support of OUP. Of those, 801 were strike sorties, 132 of which actually dropped ordnance.”
A White House report on Libya sent to Congress on June 15 says that “American strikes are limited to the suppression of enemy air defense and occasional strikes by unmanned Predator UAVs against a specific set of targets.” The report also says the U.S. provides an “alert strike package.”I don't know what that last thing is, but I'm gonna go ahead and guess that it involves adrenalin-junkie pilots, high-performance aircraft, lots of ordnance and death and screaming and blood.
5 comments:
"I don't know what that last thing is, but I'm gonna go ahead and guess that it involves adrenalin-junkie pilots, high-performance aircraft, lots of ordnance and death and screaming and blood. "
And lots and lots of money in the form of my tax extorted dollars.
If only we had some actual hippies to protest it!
(Oh, wait... They all did what Archie Bunker suggested and cut their hair and got jobs... with the State Department...)
;)
I've heard at least two Administration rationalizations for this. One is the infamous "It's only intermittently kinetic, so it doesn't count," and the other amounted to "It isn't US forces, it's really just NATO forces , so it doesn't count". I'm sure the poor dupes will be pleased to learn they're no longer Americans. And I could wish that the "North Atlantic" part of NATO meant something, but that's sorta like wishing we had a Constitution.
Okay, Tam. Let's declare truce on the hippie thing. 8^}
"WAR is not healthy for children or other living things" {insert photo of 5 year old smiling child holding a large Daisy}
And ... Not for the squeamish ...
"I don't know what that last thing is, but I'm gonna go ahead and guess that it involves adrenalin-junkie pilots, high-performance aircraft, lots of ordnance and death and screaming and blood. "
Yep with those same pilots hopped up on caffeine, sugar and "legal" methampheds [as well as adrenalin] flying in multimillion dollar kerosene guzzling jets using mucho millions of dollars of explosives. [ordnance]
Then add in lots of body fluids with body parts and pieces flying about as well as the always alluring smells of excrement, urine, hot metal [Oh and some of the "metal" smell is that blood you mentioned], "cordite" [I'm not sure of the actual chemicals used in 'ordnance' these days] and of course burnt "meat".
I probably should stop before I lose my "kind, sensitive gentleman" designation shouldn't I?
stay safe,
gooch
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