http://slatest.slate.com/id/2287484/?wpisrc=newsletter
Lawmakers Push Obama To Act on Libya As fighters on both sides in Libya seem to be digging in for a long fight, the United Nations has appointed a special envoy and congressional leaders are pushing the White House to do more to help the rebels. Sen. John Kerry brought up the possibility of bombing military airfields in Libya. Some Republicans agreed. "We can't risk allowing Qaddafi to massacre people from the air," Sen. John McCain said. Yet that wasn't seen as the only option, McCain insisted, noting that the United States could also increase its humanitarian assistance as well as provide intelligence and training to the rebels. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell also raised the possibility of "arming the insurgents, " reports the Washington Post. The White House warned that even enforcing a no-fly zone is not an easy proposition, but the New York Times points out that "it might be simpler" than portrayed by administration officials if "the United States proved willing to attack Libyan runways, missiles and radars outright." For now, military planners are "offering a broad range of approaches" since everyone pretty much agrees that an all-out attack by U.S. forces is out of the question. Preparations are allegedly under way to use signal-jamming aircraft at least to make it more difficult for government troops to communicate with each other, reports the NYT. Also, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed Abdelilah Al-Khatib, a former Jordanian foreign minister, as special envoy to Libya, reports the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Libyan government forces continued their counterattack against rebels Monday, advancing on the oil port of Ras Lanuf by air and land, forcing "residents to flee and rebels to hide their weapons in the desert," reports Reuters. Libyan rebels say they will regroup after the latest setbacks but are waiting for reinforcements, reports the Associated Press. Government officials openly asked rebel leaders to sit down for talks, but they have insisted they will not open up dialogue until Qaddafi steps down. Read original story in The Washington Post | Monday, March 7, 2011 ++++ http://slatest.slate.com/id/2287486/?wpisrc=newsletter Report: U.S. Asks Saudis To Arm Libya Rebels In a move born out of its desperate desire to avoid direct military involvement in the Libya conflict, the White House has asked Saudi Arabia to supply weapons to rebel leaders in Benghazi, reports the Independent's Robert Fisk. The United States and NATO are under increased pressure to establish a no-fly zone in Libya, but doing so would automatically require air attacks on the country's anti-aircraft missile bases. If Washington manages to convince Saudi Arabia to ship the weapons, that pressure would be greatly reduced, since the supplies could reach the rebel stronghold of Benghazi within 48 hours. King Abdullah has plenty of reasons to go after Muammar Qaddafi, not least of which is that the Libyan leader tried to assassinate him, but there has been no response to Washington's "highly classified" request. The whole thing could backfire on the White House, though, as Saudi Arabia braces for its own "day of rage" Friday. If Saudi Arabia agrees to send weapons, it means the Obama administration will not really be able to criticize the kingdom if it decides to use force to repress Shiite protesters Friday. Read original story in The Independent | Monday, March 7, 2011 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: prole...@egroups.com Subscribe : proletar-subscr...@egroups.com Unsubscribe : proletar-unsubscr...@egroups.com List owner : proletar-ow...@egroups.com Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: proletar-dig...@yahoogroups.com proletar-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: proletar-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
