Int'l community's secret plans in Libya exposed?
In a post-WikiLeaks world, keeping sensitive plans to intervene in foreign conflicts a secret is proving more difficult all the time.
As the fighting in Libya over embattled leader Muammar Qaddafi's 41-year reign reaches ever more violent heights, so grows the pressure on the international community to minimize civilian casualties.
Unlike in years past, it seems that the debate over what to do in Libya will have to be played out in public, as secret plans by America and England to intervene in the conflict have been brought to light.
The Independent newspaper of Britain is reporting that President Barack Obama's administration secretly asked Saudi Arabian officials to airlift weapons to support the rebels battling against Qaddafi.
This would not be the first rodeo for Saudi Arabia either. The Independent reports that the Saudis were not only deeply involved in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, but they also gave immediate support to American efforts to arm guerrillas fighting the Soviet army in Afghanistan in 1980. (Later, the Saudis reportedly armed and aided the Taliban.)
The Obama administration reportedly wants to supply rebels in Libya with anti-tank rockets and mortars, as well as ground-to-air missiles in order to help level the playing field with the heavily armored and airborne Qaddafi forces.
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The Independent reports that supplies could reach Benghazi within 48 hours, but only by airlift.
Going through the Saudis would take away the need to keep debating the proposed (and rebel-requested) no-fly zone over Libya, which Defense Secretary Bill Gates has publicly said he is hesitant to do. The Independent provided no word on what the Saudi response to the request has been.
Meanwhile, the Australian newspaper is reporting that a secret British negotiation team was arrested after attempting a clandestine landing in a helicopter in the rebel-controlled eastern part of Libya.
"We do not know the nature of their mission. We refused to discuss anything with them due to the way they entered the country," spokesman Abdul Hafiz Ghoqa told the Australian.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague was forced to admit to the secret mission after the team was kicked out of the country.
"The team went to Libya to initiate contacts with the opposition. They experienced difficulties, which have now been satisfactorily resolved," said Hague in a statement after the men were sent home. The Australian reports that the eight-man group reportedly comprised a diplomat and SAS soldiers.