$25 Million in Aid For Libyan Rebels

[MA-Caver]

Ya know... I thought we were in the middle of big spending cuts. I reckon $25 million is like $25 bucks to the government so yeah we can afford that... of course the question is... will the Libyans pay it back? Prolly not.
1

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press – 1 hr 28 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration plans to give the Libyan opposition $25 million in non-lethal assistance in the first direct U.S. aid to the rebels after weeks of assessing their capabilities and intentions, officials said Wednesday.
Amid a debate over whether to offer the rebels broader assistance, including cash and possibly weapons and ammunition, the administration has informed Congress that President Barack Obama intends to use his so-called drawdown authority to give the opposition, led by the Transitional National Council in Benghazi, up to $25 million in surplus American goods to help protect civilians in rebel-held areas threatened by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_us_libya_opposition

So obviously we're going into Libya for their oil too. I mean we gotta get that money back somehow...right? Or am I just being naive?

 

[SFC JeffJ]

I heard a story about this on NPR and also read some on it. Seems like a good use of old but serviceable crap we have lying around. Hell, maybe some of my old **** will see some good use.

Jeff

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Well, it's nothing compared to sending in troops, which I believe we may end up doing. The UK is reportedly sending in 'advisors', which is another way of saying elite troops.

And although I think this is going to become a quagmire, at least we're not sending guns to Libya itself anymore.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/ss_military0284_03_15.asp

CRS, which provides background to members of the [COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]House [/FONT][COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]and [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]Senate[/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR], said Libyan participation in the U.S. military education program would have paved the way for additional training.
Instead, Obama expanded military cooperation with Libya during his first year in office, the report said. CRS said the White House requested the Libya be eligible to receive weapons under the U.S. Foreign Military Financing program.
"The Obama administration also requested Foreign Military Financing assistance for Libya for the first time in FY2010, with the goal of providing assistance to the Libyan Air Force in developing its air transport capabilities and to the Libyan Coast Guard in improving its coastal patrol and search and rescue operations," the report said.
The administration also approved a Libyan request for the modernization of Gadhafi's air transport [COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]fleet[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR]. Libya acquired 10 U.S.-origin C-130 aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, in 1970.
"FY2011 FMF assistance is being requested to support Libyan participation in a program that assists countries seeking to maintain and upgrade their U.S.-made C-130 air transport fleets," the report said.
The report, completed in February, did not say whether the Gadhafi regime benefited from U.S. upgrades of his air force or navy. The administration has acknowledged that Congress blocked plans for an upgrade of Libya's armored personnel carrier fleet.

 

[MA-Caver]

And although I think this is going to become a quagmire, at least we're not sending guns to Libya itself anymore.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/ss_military0284_03_15.asp

Bill... you honestly going to believe that OUR government isn't going to be sending weaponry to even things out between two warring factions in which they can destroy each other or at least decimate each other to a point where it'd be easy to just move in and *ahem* help rebuild... that we're just going to be sending boxes of nylons and chocolate bars?

 

[crushing]

Ya know... I thought we were in the middle of big spending cuts. I reckon $25 million is like $25 bucks to the government so yeah we can afford that... of course the question is... will the Libyans pay it back? Prolly not.
1

So obviously we're going into Libya for their oil too. I mean we gotta get that money back somehow...right? Or am I just being naive?

$25 million in non-lethal force aid sounds quite cheap compared to the $600 million a week in very lethal force aid.

Maybe the US will take it out of the $30+ billion in Libyan assets that were invested in the US and then frozen earlier this year, not long after the UN released a glowing report of how wonderfully Libya has been doing in improving in the area of human rights in recent years.

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/16session/A-HRC-16-15.pdf

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Bill... you honestly going to believe that OUR government isn't going to be sending weaponry to even things out between two warring factions in which they can destroy each other or at least decimate each other to a point where it'd be easy to just move in and *ahem* help rebuild... that we're just going to be sending boxes of nylons and chocolate bars?

I don't think we're competent enough to play that sort of game anymore. I think we've already seen that Obama and Bush adventurism is or was naive and foolish compared to Reagan adventurism. Don't get me wrong, I'm against both; but at least Reagan's team knew what they were doing.

From what little I can discern, we were happy to see governments begin to topple in the Middle East, especially as they moved in the vague direction of democracy. Then the wave hit Libya and Bahrain, and the wave hit the skids. In Bahrain, Saudi Arabia sent in troops; we were stymied there. Can't do a thing about it - the Saudi government are our friends, right? But in Libya, we hoped that if we could just tip the balance a little bit, the wave my continue on for a bit.

So we got the UN no-fly zone declaration and OF COURSE it involves more than just taking out the Libyan Air Force (long since done, there is no more Libyan Air Force). But Obama lied and drug his feet and waffled around on the entire thing. First, he was ostensibly against the 'no fly zone' thing. Then he was allegedly talked into it by Clinton. Then he said absolutely no US troops on the ground, but the UK is sending in 'military advisors' and the White House usual mouthpieces are saying that "military intervention remains an option," which is basically a trial balloon to see if Obama can send in US troops without citizens going nuts and rioting in the street.

But prior to all this pro-democracy thing in the Middle East, we were trying to re-engage with Libya, which is why Obama's White House ignored reports of human rights abuse to approve military aid to Libya.

I don't know what the end-game plan is Libya. What worries me is not that I don't know, but that I suspect our leaders don't know either. I have this hunch that they're winging it, and that worries me.

 

[granfire]

so they gave them 2 tomahawks?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Winging it? The Obama White House? Naw.
I mean, we're doing so well in Iraq, Afghanistan, 7 classified locations where US troops are on the ground and engaged but you can't know the locations. Now Libya. Soon maybe Iran and Syria.
*shrug* it's ok. We'll keep on getting into fights until we feel better about ourselves.