However, the use of international forces have been unlikely until Colonel Qaddafi began the summarily use his military grade arsenal to aggressively coerce the Libyan people. Yet, as Libya comes under the declared no-fly zone effectively and after a second day of massive strikes by air and sea, as Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi has promised “a long, drawn-out war” against foreign forces he called “traitors” and “Nazis.”
According to the Washington Post, “Initial operations have been very effective,” said Admiral Mike Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The admiral also talked to CNN and said in an interview on “State of the Union” Sunday morning. “We‘ve taken out most of his air defense systems and some of his airfields. But there is still a great deal to be done.” U.S. fighter jets on Sunday mounted attacks on Libyan ground forces advancing on the rebel-held city of Benghazi.
According to Military officials, British and French fighters have also taken part in the operation. The forces have joined the patrols around the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi. Reuters had reported that many inhabitants of the city and anti-Qaddafi forces were both cheering as foreign fighter jets flew over their heads.
Reporters traveling outside Benghazi on Sunday morning found a graveyard of smoking military vehicles, the remnants of Gaddafi’s force in the area. The overturned armored vehicles and trucks, news agencies reported, had apparently been struck in attacks by U.S., French and British aircraft.
The U.N.-supported mission began Saturday, with French warplanes swooping down on military vehicles and U.S. and British warships raining scores of Tomahawk cruise missiles on Libyan air defenses. Beyond the attacks on Libyan ground forces, U.S. forces also mounted strikes with satellite-guided bombs on an airfield outside of Misurata, where the Libyan air force maintained fighter jets in hardened shelters. As of Sunday afternoon, the Libyan government had not launched any aircraft over the country and the U.S. military had detected no radar emissions from any of the air defense sites that it had targeted, military officials said.
However, not all have been in support for the international operation. Both Russian and China representatives in the UN had opposed the use of international forces in Libya. In regards to this criticism, analysts from the Wall Street Journal state that China has had a long-standing oil deal with Libya, whereas Russian oil companies have made increasing profits with Libya‘s oil shortage.
The key Arab nations had supported the resolution in the beginning, yet many leaders had quickly pulled out their support after Qaddafi had accused U.S. and British forces of inflicting civilian casualties. These reports have not yet been confirmed.
(아주경제 앤드류 이 기자)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com