[Newsbot]

Title: Libyan mission could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions, retired colonel says
Written By: NAUWATCH
Date: Thursday, May 26 at 09:24
By Jordan Press, Postmedia News
Dollar figures for the war in Libya will be made public soon, a Canadian Forces general said Wednesday, but the final cost may not be known for months to come.
One military expert says Canadian spending could easily amount to millions of dollars per day.

read more

[Dave Ruston]

Once again, NATO gets involved in another country that it has no business, well, again, business is the reason they're there. But NATO should stay out of Libya! If they have a so-called cicil war, LET THE LIBYANS SETTLE IT!

[Canadian_Mind]

Dave Ruston wrote:

Once again, NATO gets involved in another country that it has no business, well, again, business is the reason they're there. But NATO should stay out of Libya! If they have a so-called civil war, LET THE LIBYANS SETTLE IT!

Fixed your spelling.

It's one thing for a conflict to simply be a civil war where both sides follow the rules of armed conflict. That hasn't been the case here. The Ghadaffi regime has performed numerous warcrimes both during and prior to the conflict. Including but not limited to the oppression, torture, and mass-murder of his own citizens. This is why the UN called for intervention, and NATO responded at no loss to us other than money.

Many see this as the moral thing to do. While it may be none of your business, if your neighbour shot his wife and was threatening to kill his kids while he tortured them, and you had no way of contacting the authorities, would you not intervene if you knew you could help prevent him killing the kids?

[andyt]

NATO are the authorities.

[Canadian_Mind]

andyt wrote:

NATO are the authorities.

Are you saying you support the mission in this case, Andy?

[Dave Ruston]

Hey, Canadian Mind, first of all- love the handle! But I must say, that truly, we have no place in Libya. From what I have researched, most Libyans support Gadhaffi. Now, I'm not endorsing the guy, I'm just trying to be objective in this topic. Secondly, not only has Gadhaffi been a convenient on again-off again friend of the western banker-corporate fascists, it just seems that he has decided not to play along 100% with the west! NOt only is this about oil, but it is also about Gadhaffi wanting to create what is called a 'gold dinar' where a pan-African currency backed by gold is used to buy and sell goods- mainly oil, on the world market. This would of course be a threat to Rothschild- Rockefeller banker corporate fascist control! I'm not defending Gadhaffi, I'm just saying, that he has the support of the majority of his people, and that any leader who deviates from the NWO agenda, will see the wrath of the banker controlled NATO military machine! NATO is nothing more than the police force of the banker-cforporate fascists!

[Canadian_Mind]

I think calling the bankers fascists is a bit on the extreme. And I don't suppose you have any links to polls or articles indicating the majority of Libyans support Gadhaffi?

I'll just throw this out though, assuming your right about Libyan loyalties; In my experience in Afghanistan, the support between NATO and the Taliban was 50-50. Of the half that supported the Taliban, 90% of those who supported the Taliban supported them because of extortion or fear of reprisal. Basically, the citizens of Afghanistan had one side promising freedom and well paying jobs, and the other side effectively pointing a gun to their heads saying if they didn't support the Taliban the men and their sons would be killed, their women raped, daughters married up to corrupt warlords, etc.

While I haven't been to Libya and can't say for certain what the situation is on the ground, there have been tens of thousands of cases of reported torture and murder of civilians by Gadhaffi-loyal forces, as well as approximately 250 cases of war rape by Gadhaffi loyalists. Considering that to be raped is to be considered a sin and crime worthy of death in many parts of the arab world, it is likely that the overall percentage of woman raped who actually report it are very small. And it also shows how even just a small number of rapes can affect the psyche of effectively half the countries population.

Like I said, I haven't been on the ground myself to witness it, but it is very likely that a similar situation as I saw in Afghanistan is happening in Libya, whereby the people support Gadhaffi not out of loyalty, but for fear of their lives and the lives of their families.

Further, it is because of these very crimes against humanity that, with the blessing of the UN, we began the Libya campaign alongside our NATO partners with the general support of every Canadian political party including the Bloc.

[RickW]

Seems there is a certain similarity between Ghaddafi, Hussein, and Noriega:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lormand/ ... panama.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.inf ... le2849.htm

[Brent Swain]

Had we had the means of stopping the genocide in Cambodia and the killing fields, would we have been wrong to have done so? A similar fate was facing Libyans, had we not intervened. Were we wrong to defend the Jews of the holocaust against Hitler? That cost us a bundle, caused me to be begat, and ended the depression.
The biggest mistake was not starting a week or two earlier, when it would have been far easier.

[RickW]

Quote:

The biggest mistake was not starting a week or two earlier, when it would have been far easier.

It's the penalty we often pay. One of the dangers of "starting early" is that there is a temptation to adopt "preemption".

[Dave Ruston]

Another needless war, based on lies and control. Gadhafi simply was not playing ball like the self-appointed Gods wanted him to.

[Brent Swain]

Notice how Harper is not including these costs in his budget. Blows its credibility completely.