Deep divisions between allied forces currently bombing Libya worsened today as the German military announced it was pulling forces out of NATO over continued disagreement on who will lead the campaign. A German military spokesman said it was recalling two frigates and AWACS surveillance plane crews from the Mediterranean, after fears they would be drawn into the conflict if NATO takes over control from the U.S.
| So either the US leads or Germany quits? NATO is dead. |
Wow, US leadership is preferable to NATO??? Knock me over with a feather!
The infighting comes as a heated meeting of NATO ambassadors yesterday failed to resolve whether the 28-nation alliance should run the operation to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, diplomats said.
Yesterday a war of words erupted between the U.S. and Britain after the U.K. government claimed Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate target for assassination. U.K. government officials said killing the Libyan leader would be legal if it prevented civilian deaths as laid out in a U.N. resolution.
| It's legal to go after a head of state in any war. |
But U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates hit back at the suggestion, saying it would be 'unwise' to target the Libyan leader adding cryptically that the bombing campaign should stick to the 'U.N. mandate'.
| Gates is uncharacteristically muddled here, and I wonder if it is because he's trying to serve both Bambi and reality... |
President Barack Obama, seeking to avoid getting bogged down in a war in another Muslim country, said on Monday Washington would cede control of operations against Muammar Gaddafi's forces within days, handing the reins over to NATO.
| But NATO still means US involvement. Read the Charter. And we're the largest single force in NATO by far. How does 'handing the reins over to NATO' improve the situation? |
But Germany and European allies remain unwilling to have NATO take on a military operation that theoretically has nothing to do with the defence of Europe.
| Technically neither did Afghanistan. |
Today the German defence ministry announced Berlin had pulled out of any military operations in the Mediterranean. A ministry spokesman said two frigates and two other ships with a crew of 550 would be reverted to German command. Some 60 to 70 German troops participating in NATO-operated AWACS surveillance operations in the Mediterranean would also be withdrawn, according to the ministry.
Berlin isn't participating in the operation to impose a no-fly zone in Libya and abstained on the U.N. resolution authorising it. |