More than 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles struck over 20 targets inside Libya today in the opening phase of an international military operation the Pentagon said was aimed at stopping attacks led by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and enforcing a U.N.-backed no-fly zone. President Obama, speaking from Brazil shortly after he authorized the missile attacks, said they were part of a “limited military action” to protect the Libyan people.
“I want the American people to know that the use of force is not our first choice and it’s not a choice I make lightly,” Obama said. “But we cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people that there will be no mercy.”
The first air strikes, in what is being called Operation Odyssey Dawn, were launched from a mix of U.S. surface ships and one British submarine in the Mediterranean Sea at 2 p.m. ET, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.
They targeted Libyan air defense missile sites, early warning radar and key communications facilities around Tripoli, Misratah, and Surt, but no areas east of that or near Benghazi. Because of darkness over Libya, Gortney said it was too early to determine the strikes’ effectiveness.
President Obama declares national emergency in USA as a result of Libya instability on March 1.
The foregoing circumstances, the
prolonged attacks, and the increased numbers of Libyans seeking refuge in other
countries from the attacks, have caused a deterioration in the security of Libya
and pose a serious risk to its stability, thereby constituting an unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the
United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that
threat.
USA: Welcome to the perpetual state of emergency.
#30
Lose money on each one, but make it up in volume.
I hear al Megrahi asked if he could go back to prison in Scotland.
Putting the “F” back in freedom? Who knew that “F” would stand for France?
During his Brazilian holiday, The Obama says we will NOT be sending any troops in for ground action. Good for you, Barry. We’ll put that promise on the list of other promises you’ve broken. Keep it up, you may be the first double winner of the Peace Prize.
Does anybody else think That Qaddafi and Tom Jones may have been separated at birth?
#30
The US did not shoot 119 Tomahawk missiles. This is the total number including those fired by the British. There are some other players involved.
Pretty sure the Republicans aren’t going to be complaining about Obama going to battle in Libya because THEY’RE ON VACATION. Come to think of it, so is Obama.
>Its a UN expeditionary force, not a US military operation. So Obama’s lobbed a couple of cruise missiles at the desert, he
You don’t see the contradiction there?
#34 – I’m not an expert on geo-political military strategy but i think you are allowed to tell fibs to the enemy before you bomb them.
#38
I continue to be shocked at the lack of “ra ra support our troops! Right or wrong!” rhetoric coming from certain segments of the politic at this juncture. Shocking double standards.
#34. Putting the “F” back in freedom? Agreed, should be changed to MF.
#13 so who are we planning on making the next dictator of this country?
Others are right Obama could be impeached for going to war without permission but then again Obama by and large doesn’t give a crap about due process, human rights or the constitution.
We are vastly over extended. We are borrowing money to pay the interest on the money we have already borrowed and more money to run the government.
SS is now having to run at least in part on current revenues from the general fund because the trust fund contains an IOU from the Fed Gov. The post office is in the red. We are drowning in red and if the bleeping reps try to shave anything off this the Dems throw a tantrum screaming the universe is going to end because of all the horrible cuts that don’t even take us back to the hideously wasteful spending of the Bush years.
Anyone who thinks this is going to end well is insane.
This is Change I can believe in.
#41 – that’s going to be the subject of the next Fox show.
Rather like the apprentice with Donald Trump a number of potential military dictators (mustache preferred) will compete each week in typical tasks – negotiating commissions with US arms companies, giving exploration rights to US oil companies, torturing democracy campaigners etc.
Each week one is voted off (and shot) until only the winner remains – he will be put in charge of the smoking remains whichever country we have just democratized.
#41 aka retard
Go look at the CIA website. They have the entire inventory of Libya’s airforce detailed there. If this action is not already finished it will be, before it can distract people from the reality that any milk you buy in the next week will have a tiny bit more radioactive iodine in it, than it did last week.
After that France will be able to (and seems willing to) police the no fly zone.
Oh no!!! a couple dozen 40 year old russian fighters!!!
Another nation to build. Great! Another part of the Arab world getting motivated to blow us up. Great!
When will we aver learn?
Heck of a job, Barry.
“Nobel Peace Prize recipient at work……”
Indeed!
Not one more whine from you leftards about Chimpymcbushhalliburton. One of your fellow travelers has just attacked a sovereign country that has not threatened us in any way.
“I continue to be shocked at the lack of “ra ra support our troops! Right or wrong!” rhetoric coming from certain segments of the politic at this juncture.”
I support our troops, right or wrong. Only douchebags don’t support our troops. Our troops are our friends and brothers and they aren’t the ones making the decisions. Barry hasn’t used troops… YET. He’s just sent about $500 million in cruise missiles to rain death upon a sovereign country.
yes #30 is wrong with that number. america didnt shoot that many, brits and maybe france shot some off as well. still. i heard we hit a hospital as well (might be spin) but i am sure we killed civilians
Oh America, what a peaceful nation. Once again they are butting in with military action against a country that was no threat to anybody and whose internal affairs were none of their damn business, because their weak and ineffectual president needs to boost his image.
No doubt, the “fix” will be worse than the problem.
The irony meter is pegging.
“What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war….What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income.”
– Barry Soetero, October 2, 2002
“Now let me be clear: I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. The world, and the Iraqi people would be better off without him. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.”
– Barry Soetero, March 27, 2007
>> Ah_Yea said, on March 19th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
>> The inability of our President to move has given Gaddafi time to consolidate his power by killing his enemies and terrorizing his people.
You conservatives confuse intelligent strategy with an inability to move.
Thank God a conservative isn’t in the Whitehouse – we’d be mired in about three more Arab countries by now.
>> gquaglia said, on March 19th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
>> Hahahaha, not only did Obama not get us out of Iraq and Afganistan like he ran on, we are now involved in a 3rd conflict.
You conservatives have absolutely no moral or intellectual center, do you?
It’s all about “gottcha”.
And, BTW, Obama has been quite consistent with what he promised. He promised to end America’s war in Iraq and to focus on the Afghanistan war.
I, personally, disagreed with him and just wanted America to “get out” of both places, as you say. But that isn’t what Obama said he was going to do.
Salute to president Obama for doing the right thing , the right way. Surely the UN was slow to act, but the result is unambiguous use of military assets.
I expect Commander In Chief Obama to clear the way for French and Arab countries to police the skies while covert operations on the ground to topple the G’Daffy government. I give it 3 weeks tops. Speak softly, carry a big dick.
Goddamn. Why do we even give a shit about Gaddafi? We’ve tolerated him for 30 years — he never interrupted oil supplies.
So when do we end the no-fly-zone? What is our exit strategy?
Lou Minatti,
“Barry Soetero”?? I had to Google it. You are alluding to one of the zillion, debunked lies spread by the conservatives, aren’t you?
My word, it’s stunning how often, how consistently, how gleefully conservatives lie.
#35 – foreign export stimulus at work.
Get the Brits to buy missiles, tell them where and when to fire them, they buy replacements.
You get a war and jobs in California !
Greg Allen: ““Barry Soetero”?? I had to Google it. You are alluding to one of the zillion, debunked lies spread by the conservatives, aren’t you?”
What’s funny is you object to one of Barry’s many names, but you don’t object to what he actually said.
http://barackobama.com/pdf/warspeech.pdf
Somehow when liberals kill innocent people it’s a good thing. C’est la vie.
Just imagine the cost of it SO FAR… reports of 110 tomahawk missiles being fired, apparently over 50 dead ALREADY…
What the hell does each of those missiles run at the dealership? Ignoring The Sports Package etc, 100K USD, 250K USD, 500KUSD, 1 million USD each?
US citizens, each of those is your money being used to kill other people. Money that could be paying off your debt, putting all US citizens through tertiary education, providing actual healthcare…
$1.4M/each (program cost to date) but since some of these were fired by the ‘coalition of the bought and paid for’ those are pure profit
At 2missiles/casualty that’s a cost of $3M/dead arab. Not too good by Gulf War standards but these are individual bespoke deaths. Of course if the war can be stepped up to mass production level we can probably bring it in under 1M DPDF (dollars per dead furriner)