stoneric

Arab League Slams Libya Attacks Amid Reports of Growing Civilian Toll
Amr Moussa Insists Call for 'No-Fly Zone' Didn't Mean Call for Bombardment

by Jason Ditz, March 20, 2011

Having been instrumental in pushing the UN to approve the resolution authorizing the no-fly zone over Libya, the Arab League has found itself quickly regretting its Faustian bargain. Now, with reports of civilian casualties on the rise, they are condemning the massive air strikes by the US, France and Britain.

“What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians,” insisted Arab League chief and Egyptian presidential hopeful Amr Moussa.

The split comes at a time when Western officials are trying to claim broad Arab support for the action. The escalation of the Western intervention has come much faster than anyone imagined – they went from a Thursday approval of a no-fly zone to mass air strikes on Saturday. Still, with Saturday also serving as the eight year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the notion that such a resolution would fall victim to “mission creep” should not come as a surprise.

In addition to the Arab League, the African Union has also called for an immediate attack on all the strikes against Libya, saying that they feared “serious humanitarian consequences.” Though the figures cannot be confirmed on the ground (particularly with the US warning journalists away from Libya) the reports as of late Sunday morning are that as many as 64 people have been killed in the air strikes, and hundreds wounded. US commander Admiral Michael Mullen insists he has seen no reports of any civilian casualties at all.
******************** ********

This guy is like others who think war is like a video game.

SageTree

Save people from their murdering lead by killing them.

Nice job.

/cynical frustration

__________________

Peace seeker

getting rid of Kadafi, Mubarak and any other multi-billionaire dictator is a good thing. It should have happened decades ago

as for the Arab League..they better make up their mind with what they want. One day they call obama asking for the US and NAto to attack Kadafi and one day later they have second thoughts...

Kadafi needs to be out of the picture, regardless of what the arab league wants

i dont know though, if another war will solve anything...(i have my doubts there)

John F. Kerry

i know its pretty ridiculous.... hopefully people around the world can see how absurd this is for them to support it one day and then just turn around 180 the next day.... "oh we didnt know they were gonna do that"... lol its almost worse than not voting for it in teh first place- makes em like look a bunch of children.

__________________
Nasa under Obama

John F. Kerry

did all these people around the world support a no fly zone without knowing what that meant or am i just confused?

__________________
Nasa under Obama

SageTree

Welll...... speaking on behalf of the Planet Earth and all it's People's..........

__________________

Snowmayne

am i wrong or has there been confirmed reports of civilian deaths these air strikes, and cruise missile strikes.

i've only seen it reported on Libya state tv that there were deaths, and absurd ones at that like Hospitals for the Elderly and schools being hit in Tripoli, while there were Al Jazeera reporters reporting live, reporting explosions far outside the city which contradicts everything.

__________________
We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "