British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy touched down in Tripoli on Thursday, Sept. 15, accompanied by heavy security, to meet with Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) leaders and tour the city that once was the capital of Muammar al-Qaddafi's regime. The two leaders, both early supporters of the Libyan rebels, are credited with providing European leadership in helping overthrow Qaddafi; the New York Times writes that the NATO mission was a "diplomatic and military triumph" for Cameron and Sarkozy. With Qaddafi still on the loose, Cameron said that the NATO mission would continue "as long as necessary" to bring himto justice, while Sarkozy, whose government was the first to recognize the rebel government, pledged that "as long as peace is threatened, France will be on your side." Cameron and Sarkozy are the first European leaders to visit Tripoli since it fell last month.
Above, NATO military helicopters carry Sarkozy and Cameron after their press conference in Tripoli on Sept. 15.
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Cameron arrives at the Corinthia Hotel in central Tripoli on Sept. 15.
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Cameron is greeted with flowers upon his arrival at the hotel.
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Sarkozy and Cameron arrive at the Corinthia Hotel.
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Sarkozy is welcomed by NTC leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil and Prime Minister Mahmud Jibril in Tripoli on Sept. 15.
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Cameron and Sarkozy visit the Tripoli Medical Center on Sept. 15.
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Jalil shakes hands with an injured Libyan as Cameron and Sarkozy make the rounds at the Tripoli Medical Center.
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Cameron and British Foreign Secretary William Hague are greeted by crowds of well-wishers outside the Tripoli Medical Center.
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From left to right, Sarkozy, Jalil, Jibril, and Cameron take part in a joint press conference in central Tripoli on Sept. 15.
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Where's Waldo? Just behind Cameron, Jalil, and Sarkozy is French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy -- an early champion of the Libyan rebels -- outside the Tripoli Medical Center on Sept. 15.
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MUTT3003
1:18 PM ET
September 15, 2011
Victory lap?
Which country flew the most missions, spent the most money or did the most good? I daresay neither of these two. Obama mustn't of had the time to hop over there to join them. Although he could have sent Biden.
FRENCHCONNECTION
4:51 PM ET
September 15, 2011
here are some facts, read and weep
http://www.acus.org/natosource/national-composition-nato-strike-sorties-libya
actually those figures are the ones of the strike sorties and the US stands only for 16%, most of them concentrated only in the initial 15 days. If you count ALL sorties, the US comes third and the contribution (20%) a fifth of the whole contribution.
Regarding the money spent, the US leads as a single country. But of that money maybe up to 40% was used in the initial Tomahawk launches. And it can be discussed if those were REALLY necessary. That the US spends a lot of money doesn't mean it's spent efficiently. As a total of money spent, the US stands for probably less than 50% if you count all participants.
What did the most good ?
Probably the combination of French/UK attack helos low altitude strikes with the taking out of coastal defenses by close naval artillery from frigates. The logistics providing and training of a shock rebel brigade by French/UK special forces were decisive in the fall of Tripoli.
Politically the mission was a French/UK endeavour followed by a reluctant USA. Militarily the leaders were French/UK within a NATO frame.
To be fair, it must be said that the mission would have been much more difficult without US refueling and SIGINT.
On the other hand the concrete results in destruction of enemy forces is far superior than during the Kosovo campaign when the US stood for the overwhelming majority of the sorties but destroyed maybe only 10% of the Serbian forces. This with unsignificant collateral damage and virtually no destruction of basic Libyan infrastructure (roads, bridges, power, civilian airports etc...) if you except civilian infrastructure used as military command and control.
So this is MOSTLY a French/UK victory. And the whining above reminds very much of the boasting of the US participation in WWI : the US arrived during the last year, the quality of their forces was so bad that most of them (except a few heroic moments) were just kept as reserves far from the frontline and US troops were kept under French/UK supreme command. But the US participation psychologically and economically hastened the German already begun collapse which is a fact. Which doesn't mean that the US "bailed out" the poor Yuros despite a common belief.
Neither this time
EVAN SPENCER
4:33 AM ET
September 16, 2011
Wow. It didn't take the
Wow. It didn't take the European leaders long to make a trip to Tripoli. One would love to think it was due to their eagerness to see that the Libyan people can rebuild their country, but one has to suspect that oil had a lot to do with it. Lets hope the new leaders can avoid their eye floaters and begin an administration that sees the massive oil based revenue flow back to the Libyan people.
YARINSIZ
2:47 PM ET
October 6, 2011
On the other hand the
On the other hand the concrete results in destruction of enemy forces is far superior than during the Kosovo campaign when the US stood for the overwhelming majority of the sorties but destroyed maybe only 10% of the Serbian forces. This with unsignificant collateral damage seslichat and virtually no destruction of basic Libyan infrastructure (roads, bridges, power, civilian airports etc...) if you except civilian infrastructure used as military command and control.
CHRISBIKER
4:33 AM ET
October 13, 2011
Probably
Probably the combination of French/UK attack helos low altitude strikes with the taking out of coastal exercise bikes defenses by close naval artillery from frigates. The logistics providing and training of a shock rebel brigade by French/UK special forces were decisive in the fall of Tripoli.