Libya: Seriously, where is this going?

Nor did I, TBH. I thought this would be over relativly quickly. He must have a fair amount of genuine support.

Or fear. I'm guessing the people still under his control fear rising against him more than they actually support him.
 
Hard as it might be for you to imagine, some people actually do support politicians America hates... not a good thing in this case, but you have no basis whatsoever for that assumption.
 
Hard as it might be for you to imagine, some people actually do support politicians America hates...

That was rude of you.

not a good thing in this case, but you have no basis whatsoever for that assumption.

My assumption lies with the previous crackdown on protesters when this thing initially broke out, and the fact that he has his own military units roaming the capitol (which wouldn't really be necessary if he had a large base of support). I'm not saying he doesn't have some support, but I would guess the majority are placated by fear.
 
Well I can't see Gaddafi winning that's for sure. It's a matter of when now, not if. Misrata hasn't fallen, and as long as it doesn't, a de facto partition is impossible. So it will just take time... How long I have no idea, depends on a whole host of things. But I really can't see any other outcome than Gaddafi losing control of the West.
 
Well I can't see Gaddafi winning that's for sure. It's a matter of when now, not if. Misrata hasn't fallen, and as long as it doesn't, a de facto partition is impossible. So it will just take time... How long I have no idea, depends on a whole host of things. But I really can't see any other outcome than Gaddafi losing control of the West.

Do you really think so? I've been fearing this whole time that the opposite - that eventually the rebellion withers and dies at the hands of Gaddafi's professionally-trained and -equipped military. I'm admittedly uninformed when it comes to popular uprisings, rebellions, and civil wars in North African nations - let alone the specifics of this particular nation - but it seems like the loyalists have the money, arms, training, and manpower. I honestly have no idea how schoolteachers and postal clerks fight a successful war against that, even with NATO support.
 
Well I can't see Gaddafi winning that's for sure. It's a matter of when now, not if. Misrata hasn't fallen, and as long as it doesn't, a de facto partition is impossible. So it will just take time... How long I have no idea, depends on a whole host of things. But I really can't see any other outcome than Gaddafi losing control of the West.

I absolutely see him winning if the current level of operations is the best we got. As soon as the nations flying the planes decide thats enough money spent, they'll go home and Qaddafi will mop up. All he has to do is hide out til then.
 
So either put American troops in there, or quit complaining. Perhaps now you see why people like me were so adamant about getting into Iraq and deposing Saddam with troops: because rebellions from the inside, without the training and equipment possessed by Free World nations, take a lot longer and are a lot bloodier.

Free nations? You mean the nations that invade other nations, make sure that they'll be wrecked by internal conflict, apply the age-old principle of divide et impera, and run them as protectorates? Oh, sure, foreign rule is freedom, no doubt...
 
To answer that one, you're going to have to ask the Libyan rebels, because the answer lies entirely with them.

Airstrikes are merely a facilitator. They cripple the enemy, but anything blown up by a plane can be rebuilt. In order to win a war, you have to have boots on the ground (to prevent the enemy from ever coming back to destroyed stuff). And we don't. Only the rebels do.

So either put American troops in there, or quit complaining. Perhaps now you see why people like me were so adamant about getting into Iraq and deposing Saddam with troops: because rebellions from the inside, without the training and equipment possessed by Free World nations, take a lot longer and are a lot bloodier.

WHOA WHOA! what is this about American troops? This is a European lead action.
 
WHOA WHOA! what is this about American troops? This is a European lead action.

Yup. Which is why I think it will end in a horribly prolongued conflict. Eventually leading to Libya splitting into two. And in worst case have a large contested area where we will see fighting for an even longer time for stuff like Oil and arible land.

If it was US led we would most likely have seen a better end to it.
 
This has dragged on far longer than expected and is no closer to any sort of resolution than when the west attacked. Where is this going to end?

Price of oil goes up. Profit. Bribe the people that are angry (NATO, rebels, etc..). Profit more until next regime crisis such as Gaddafi on death bed from old age.
 
yup. Which is why i think it will end in a horribly prolongued conflict. Eventually leading to libya splitting into two. And in worst case have a large contested area where we will see fighting for an even longer time for stuff like oil and arible land.

If it was us led we would most likely have seen a better end to it.

[chants]YOU-ESS-AYY! YOU-ESS-AYY!! You-ESS-AYY![/chants]

10chairs
 
Ah, you're just envious that they can start a conflict and actually have enough munition to end it.

As far as I'm aware, the Falkands conflict ended just fine and dandy. :smug:
 
Ah, but this is not 1982 and Cameron is not Thatcher :P

Well, you guys lead the way towards a solid end in Afghanistan and then we'll talk contemporary. ;)
 
Gaddafi has seen that restraint lead to the revolutions of Mubarek and Ben Ali, but that nations that stomped on the protesters like Bahrain and Syria will return to normal in a few months. So, he had his sons will not stop until they are dead given that they are already international pariahs.

There were a few rumors from Al Jazeera that the rebels were making some major progress this week, but unless they are incredibly lucky, the best they will be able to achieve is a stalemate. But, a stalemate will probably be a lot like a North/ South Vietnam situation in which Guadaffi will be able to use his oil as a means to resupply his army in order to overwhelm the east. As Mob Boss said, while brutal, his army is not horribly incompetent, and that will be the deciding factor unless we actually decide to do more than fire at the occasional tank we see these days.
 
The oil is in the East of the country, in rebel hands. A possibility is more along the lines of North/South Korea with a wealthy Western backed 'free' Libya in the east based in Benghazi and a impoverished, militarized Ghaddafi Libya in the west based in Tripoli with a standoff and frequent clashes over border towns and cities and incursions across the desert.
 
Well, North Korea had the full backing of the Communist world during the Korean war, so Libya and Korea aren't really comparable.
 
Russia and China have traditionally supported Ghaddafi until very recently when he made friends with Britian and the US.
 
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