US to Deploy More Military Forces in Libya

Cruise missiles being launched in the Mediterranean against the North African state of Libya. There have been thousands killed and many more injured by the U.S. and European military bombings., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

US to deploy more forces in Libya

Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:53PM GMT
presstv.ir

According to White House spokesman Jay Carney, the United States is preparing to deploy additional forces on the ground in Libya to "secure conventional arms storage sites" as well as to try to track down missing surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

In the wake of the opposition invasion of Tripoli, large arms depots across the western half of the nation were looted, and it is estimated that some 20,000 shoulder-launched SAMs were among what had gone missing, many of them wound up on the arms markets in neighboring nations. Antiwar

HIGHLIGHTS

Currently the U.S. State Department has one official on the ground in Libya, as well as five contractors who specialize in "explosive ordinance disposal", all working with the Transitional National Council to find the looted missiles, White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters. ABC News

"We expect to deploy additional personnel to assist the TNC as they expand efforts to secure conventional arms storage sites," Carney said. "We're obviously at a governmental level -- both State Department and at the UN and elsewhere -- working with the TNC on this." ABC News

Though weapons of all shapes and sizes were looted, the shoulder-launched SAMs are of particular concern to the U.S., as they could pose a threat to U.S. warplanes the world over now that they are out of the warehouses and in general circulation. Antiwar

20,000 is a lot of missiles too. One rights group cautioned that the SAMs coming out of Libya were enough to turn all of northern Africa into a no-fly zone. Though some regional groups are likely to be keen on acquiring many of these weapons, it is unlikely they will be restricted to northern Africa either, with groups in Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan likely keen on their own acquisitions. Antiwar

FACTS & FIGURES

On March 19, U.S./NATO forces began striking government buildings, civilian neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, communication satellites, ships and ports in Libya. workers.org

The United States launched its first airstrike by unmanned drone planes in Libya on April 23. RTE News

President Obama assured Americans in March when the bombing campaign over Libya began that there would be no boots on the ground. From the East Room of the White House on March 18, he said: "The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya." Fox News

Some experts say the main motive behind the Western attack on Libya is the vast oil reserves of the North African country. wordpress.com

The continuing battle for Libya currently focuses on two towns holding out in the north - Sirt and Bani Walid. But the battle for the desert south of the country, where Gaddafi is almost certainly hiding, could be much tougher.

NATO'S secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, says its military involvement would continue. The Telegraph