Gates: Libyan no-fly zone means attacking Libya
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen testify on Capitol Hill in Washington March 2, 2011, before the House Appropriations Committee hearing on the Defense Department's budget.
/ AP PhotoComplete Coverage: Anger in the Arab World
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Capitol Hill that the Obama administration is a "long way" from making a decision about a no-fly zone, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates explained why.
"Let's call a spade a spade," Gates said at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing. "A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses."
He added that it couldn't be done by a single aircraft carrier off the coast.
"It's a big operation in a big country," Gates said.
On top of that, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the same subcommittee that the Pentagon has no confirmation that Libyan strongman Muammar al Qaddafi is using his air force to kill civilians.
In other words, there is no need to establish a no-fly zone, at least for now, and no desire within the military to do it period. The U.S. military has long experience with no-fly zones -- more than a decade over Iraq -- and knows what it takes, not just jets but tankers and early warning aircraft.
However, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily briefing that a no-fly zone is being "actively considered."
"We have not ruled any options out," said Carney. "The fact that the no-fly zone idea is complex does not mean it's not on the table."
As Gates pointed out, establishing a no-fly zone requires the use of force to take out the air defense sites that could shoot down any patrolling aircraft, and so far neither the U.N. Security Council nor NATO has authorized the use of force in Libya.
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Consider French Revolution with the uprising of the poor and the emerging middle classes against an oppressive aristocratic society and within a few years from 1789 they devolved into despotism and bloodshed. The Reign of Terror followed. U.S. had its stumbling following 1776. Had the French intervened we may very well be commenting on other matters, rather than this issue.
What the Libyans absolute spirit will be or not is of their choice not ours, to make that decision. Intervention, should it be called for, from the least to the most, it will require an equal responsibility to all concerned not for U.S. to police it alone anymore. How much longer before we are manipulated to be the bulwark of world ideologies. This will serve to seek our demise. All participates or none.
What the printing press contributed to the demise of the established hierarchies; This information technology will contribute a similar blow to monarchies and dictators. With or without us. Suspect we have enough turmoil at present with the ideologies of the corporatists and the unions, on our own turf.
Three cheers for Obama for actually listening to the experts.