US weighs hit-and-run raids to disable Qaddafi's air capability The US is weighing military intervention to break the standoff between Muammar Qaddafi's army and rebel forces over the towns commanding the roads to the capital Tripoli where Qaddafi is barricaded. Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan stated Monday, Feb. 28 that the US "is repositioning its naval and air forces around Libya." His reference to "various contingency plans" related to the USS Enterprise and USS Kearsarge with 1,800 marines aboard soon to be redeployed off Libya. Just two days after two Iranian warships reached the Syrian port of Latakia via the Suez Canal, an Iranian-Syrian naval cooperation accord was signed Friday, Feb. 25 providing for Iran to build its first Mediterranean naval base at the Syrian port,DEBKAfile's sources reveal. It will include a large Iranian Revolutionary Guards weapons depot, anchorage for large warships and submarines and logistical infrastructure for incoming Iranian troops. The Syrian Navy chief said the move would "cripple Israel." Barring changes in the military situation, Muammar Qaddafi looked Wednesday, March 2, like averting the immediate danger of his regime's collapse by dint of a successful counter-offensive against rebel forces. During the day, his armored forces and commandos supported by the Libyan Air Force recaptured parts of Brega, Libya's refinery city, and sections of the Bay of Sirte town of Ajdabiya. In Washington, the Pentagon poured cold water on the prospects of military intervention.
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis
Thursday, 3 March 2011
February 28, 2011, 10:52 PM (GMT+02:00)
USS Kearsarge to be "repositioned" off Libya
Iran to build permanent naval base in Syria
March 1, 2011, 8:51 PM (GMT+02:00)
Honor guard on Iranian waship at Latakia for Iranian, Syrian Navy chiefs
The US, UK, Libyan opposition lack military strength to take on Qaddafi
March 2, 2011, 7:38 PM (GMT+02:00)
Qaddafi's forces mount counter-offensive
Posts
