Libyan No-Fly Zone

Not long ago on the way to lunch with a Marine buddy I heard the call for a “Libyan No-Fly Zone” for the first time on the radio.  The call was made by Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman – two people with whom I rarely agree.  My buddy rejected the plan out of hand and I agreed at the time – but now I’m not so sure.  Seeing McCain go up against Secretary of Defense Robert Gates moved me further to the side of intervention rather than away from it.  With all due respect, McCain is a warrior and Gates is not.  Now even John Kerry (who wanted to be a warrior but failed) is in favor of a “No-Fly Zone” now that some long suppressed molecules of testosterone bubbled to the top.  I am now a supporter of a “No-Fly Zone.”  My rationale:

First:  You get nothing for not playing in the game.  Maummar Kaddafi is one evil bastard and making him go away would be a good thing.  I suspect that unless there has been a complete failure in our intelligence service that there is someone like Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud that should have been identified within the Libyan resistance.  We need to talk with that guy yesterday.  He and his followers can make our participation worthwhile just as they did in Afghanistan.  Without such a figure it may be wise to wait for one to pop to the surface however. 

Second:  We have the greatest military capability in the world.  It probably escaped most people that the Iraqis had the most modern anti-aircraft equipment that money could buy before the First Gulf War.  That equipment was assembled into a very effective defense in depth of Iraq by the French.  American military forces attacked it largely from the air.  Please think about that and let the irony sink in for a second.  We attacked their anti-aircraft system with airplanes.  Now that didn’t make the attack bloodless or without cost, but the Iraqis were in significantly better shape than Libyan air defenses are today.  Secretary Gates’ remarks that it would require an invasion of Libya to impose a “No-Fly Zone” are incorrect.  The U.S. Navy could do this and a Marine Expeditionary Unit could back them up for any ground operations (recovery of a downed aircrew for example) that would be required.  We would need to brace for some casualties – but it could be done. 

Something tells me that the Libyan response would be akin to the old joke about the Iranian Air Defense Radar who passed over the radio:

“Unknown aircraft you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself.”

Aircraft: “This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.”

Air Defense: “You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!”

Aircraft: “This is a United States Marine Corps FA-18 fighter. Send 'em up, I'll wait!”

Air Defense Radar: (no response .... total silence)

Third:  If we could get the Libyan resistance to stop shooting in the air by convincing them that the only airplanes that are going to fly above Libya for more than a few minutes are friendly – they will stop wasting ammunition and shoot it at Kaddafi’s forces instead.  We just need to find a freedom fighter in Libya – the Libyan equivalent of Ahmad Shah Massoud or better yet George Washington. 

Lastly:  We should send in food and medical supplies into “free” (that term will be relative in the Arab world) areas and make sure that it has American flags printed all over it.  While we should remain focused on recovering oil, digging a few wells for water in the “free” zones will help a great deal as well.  A rather modest effort on our part could be extremely beneficial in the long term. 

Remember – Marines have been to Tripoli before – look how well that turned out.