Back in March, facing concerns over the indiscriminate attacks by Ghaddafy government forces against rebellious cities, the UN authorized concerned nations the opportunity to police a no-fly zone over over Libya.
The shoe is now on the other foot:
For much of the seven-month Libyan uprising, the besieged city of Misrata endured daily shelling and rocketing by Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces. Now, it is payback time here in Sirte, the strongman’s hometown and the biggest remaining loyalist holdout.
The hardened Misrata fighters, who launched their assault on Sirte last week, are tightening the noose around the coastal city that Col. Gadhafi aimed to turn into Africa’s capital, building it up as a showcase of his ambitions to be the continent’s leader.
On Sunday—following a ground incursion into downtown Sirte that loyalist forces repelled—Misrata troops deployed long-range artillery, tanks, mobile-rocket launchers and 107-millimeter mortars around the city, pounding it in an attempt to force loyalists into submission.
Having suffered repulse on their attempt to enter the city on foot, the rebels now blame the sniper threat for their use of heavy artillery.
Have none of these people ever heard of a siege?
They probably watched the movie Troy and figured it’d all be over in a few days. Should have read they book instead.
Heard of a siege? Maybe. Know how to conduct one? Err, no.
It’s rather difficult to besiege a coastal city. Doubly so if you don’t have a navy.
But there are NATO ships offshore, and a blockade of merchant borne supplies ought to be a trivial thing. Even for NATO.
…bites big time when the facts get in the way of an argument. Best
When all this got started, I think that someone said that, “. . . it’ll be a matter of days, not weeks . . .”
How many months ago was that?
Could he even remotely possibly have been wrong?
If they stop shelling the city will soon become infested with reporters, pictures of starving children will appear on TV and NATO will quit.
The idea that “rubble makes no trouble” could be tested. I wouldn’t, however, want to be one of the foot sojer types tasked with entry into that rubble.
NATO and “ought” go together rather well. I don’t see NATO doing the blockade thing.
I suppose it all depends on whether you want to take the city, or kill as many as possible before you do. Arabs are not civilised. Islam took care of that.