redlightning
Banned
What if in 2011 the US and its NATO allies did not decide to implement a no-fly zone over Libya just as the civil war starts to begin. How different would the outcome of the conflict be if this step had not been taken?
Katpur is an actual influential Congresswoman, not a mere gadfly. Kucinich was done.We might see Dennis Kucinich still in Congress. I think after he took on Obama over the war, the party definitely planned to back Kaptur over backing him or staying neutral.
He wont necessarily win outright. By the time NATO started its bombing, rebel tanks had actually halted the Gaddafi forces assault on Benghazi and driven them back into the outskirts. There were plenty of defected soldiers and even some jets and helicopters and at least one Navy frigate. Qatar and others would provide the rebels with heavy weapons and training provided the rebels managed to hold onto Benghazi for a while longer.
Gaddafi may still win, but he would face prolonged insurgency in the East and in the southern desert regions. Libya would be very unstable for years to come.
My take was that France and the UK were committed to interdicting Gaddafi's loyalists through air strikes, and the Italians were up for letting them use Sigonella to do so. Had Obama decided that it was not a good move to play there, the Europeans had the force projection to do so on their own.
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My take was that France and the UK were committed to interdicting Gaddafi's loyalists through air strikes, and the Italians were up for letting them use Sigonella to do so. Had Obama decided that it was not a good move to play there, the Europeans had the force projection to do so on their own.
Without a POD that gives Libya a modern airforce and integrated air defence system, striking Gaddaffi is a great play for Cameron (Lockerbie, WPC Yvonne Fletcher, IRA arms, etc) and a good one for Sarko (Chad) and Italy (Don't look at the bond prices, there's a war over there!). The political upsides of a short, victorious war against a really evil guy with no realistic way of fighting back (since he disarmed his chemical WMDs and dismantled his nuclear programme to be "rehabilitated" into international trade) are just too great for them to sit this one out.