Libya: NATO sees 90-day campaign..[ 2216 )

West strikes Libya forces, NATO sees 90-day campaign

6:23pm EDT

By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

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TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Western warplanes bombed Muammar Gaddafi's tanks and artillery in eastern Libya on Friday to try to break a battlefield stalemate and help rebels take the strategic town of Ajdabiyah.

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While the African Union said it was planning to facilitate talks to help end war in the oil producing country, NATO said its no-fly zone operation could last three months, and France cautioned the conflict would not end soon.

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In Washington, a U.S. military spokeswoman said the coalition fired 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles and flew 153 air sorties in the past 24 hours targeting Gaddafi's artillery, mechanized forces and command and control infrastructure.

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Western governments hope the raids, launched on Saturday with the aim of protecting civilians, will shift the balance of power in favor of the Arab world's most violent popular revolt.

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In Tripoli, residents reported another air raid just before dawn, hearing the roar of a warplane, followed by a distant explosion and bursts of anti-aircraft gunfire.

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As the United States said Gaddafi's ability to command and sustain his forces was diminishing, Libyan state TV said the "brother leader" had promoted all members of his armed forces and police "for their heroic and courageous fight against the crusader, colonialist assault", without giving further details.

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Rebels massing for an attack on the strategically important town of Ajdabiyah exchanged artillery fire with Gaddafi's forces.

Opposition forces on the road to Ajdabiyah seemed more organised than in recent days, when their disarray stirred doubts about their ability to challenge Gaddafi.

They had set up road blocks at regular intervals and Reuters counted at least four truck-based rocket launchers -- heavier weaponry than had been seen earlier this week.

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Winning back Ajdabiyah would be the biggest victory for the eastern rebels since their initial push westwards went into reverse two weeks ago and the better equipped Gaddafi forces drove them back toward the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

It would also signal that allied airstrikes may be capable of helping rebel fighters eventually topple Gaddafi.

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NOT DAYS, WEEKS

At African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, AU commission chairman Jean Ping said it was planning to facilitate peace talks in a process that should end with democratic elections.

It was the first statement by the AU, which had rejected any form of foreign intervention in the Libya crisis, since the U.N. Security Council imposed a no-fly zone last week and air strikes began on Libyan military targets.

But in Brussels, a NATO official said planning for NATO's operation assumed a mission lasting 90 days, although this could be extended or shortened as required.

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France said the war could drag on for weeks.

"I doubt that it will be days," Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the head of French armed forces, told France Info radio. "I think it will be weeks. I hope it will not take months."

Guillaud said a French plane destroyed an army artillery battery near the eastern frontline town of Ajdabiyah, 150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi. Ajdabiyah is important for both sides as it commands the coastal highway to the west.

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In London, the Ministry of Defense said British Tornado aircraft had also been active there, firing missiles overnight at Libyan military vehicles threatening civilians.

Later in the afternoon, Western warplanes were again active over Ajdabiyah and a Reuters correspondent close to the town heard three large explosions and large plumes of black smoke rising above the eastern entrance to the town.

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A rocket apparently fired from rebel positions then hit the eastern gate, sending a fireball into the sky.

"The eastern gate has fallen and we are sending a team to check before moving forward," rebel Colonel Hamad al-Hasi told Reuters near the town.

In the eastern rebel bastion of Benghazi, rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said he expected Ajdabiyah to fall on Friday or Saturday following the overnight British and French strikes.

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"This (the strikes) will weaken their forces and more importantly their morale," he said, adding the level of Western strikes was "sufficient. We feel safe under their protection".

Simon Brooks, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross operations in eastern Libya, reported big population movements from the Ajdabiyah area because of the fighting.

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The ICRC was sending 700 tents to the area of Ajdabiyah to help displaced people, he said. In Ajdabiyah, the hospital "is obviously very close to where the fighting is going on. It is extremely difficult for people to get access to the hospital."

Officials and rebels said aid organisations were able to deliver some supplies to the western city of Misrata but were concerned because of government snipers in the city center.

NATO said on Thursday after four days of tough negotiations that it would enforce the no-fly zone but stopped short of taking full command of U.N.-backed military operations to protect civilians from forces loyal to Gaddafi.

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SUDAN SAID TO SUPPORT NO FLY ZONE

Differences over the scope the U.N. resolution gave for military action against Gaddafi's army led to days of heated arguments within NATO about its role in the operation.

The United States, embroiled in Iraq and Afghanistan, is keen to step back and play a supporting role in Libya in order to preserve alliance unity and maintain the support of Muslim countries for the U.N.-mandated intervention.

Despite the apparently cumbersome structure of the planned new command and Arab jitters on the use of force, the operation continues to receive support from beyond Western ranks.

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The United Arab Emirates said it would send 12 planes to take part in operations to enforce the no-fly zone.

Qatar has already contributed two fighters and two military transport planes to help enforce the no-fly zone.

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Western jets pounded targets in southern Libya on Thursday but failed to prevent government tanks re-entering Misrata, whose main hospital was besieged by government snipers.

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In Tripoli, a Libyan energy official said on Thursday Libya was short of fuel and needs to import more, but a ship with fuel now bound for Tripoli may be stopped by Western forces.

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Officials and hospital workers said civilians, including women, were among those killed in the latest Western air strikes in the Libyan capital. There was no way to independently verify the report.

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(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers, Tom Perry in Cairo, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Phil Stewart in Moscow, Andrew Quinn in Washington, Catherine Bremer, Emmanuel Jarry and Yves Clarisse in Paris, Rosalba O'Brien in London; Writing by William Maclean and Jon Hemming; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

The USA on the Greece’s National Day...[ 2215 ]

Statement by Secretary Clinton on Greece’s National Day

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
March 24, 2011

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate Hellenes and Philhellenes worldwide as you celebrate the 190th anniversary of Greece’s Independence this March 25th.

190 years of independence is a significant achievement, but Greek contributions to democracy and liberty go back thousands of years. Every day, countries and people from all regions of the world draw inspiration from Athenian democracy in their own constitutions and legal systems. 

In the United States, our founders looked to the cradle of democracy and in turn created the words that would be enshrined in our constitution.

Our shared commitment to these universal values has never been more important to the aspirations of people across the globe. 

Today, our Greek allies continue to set an example with these ideals. Greece is contributing to peace in Europe, South Asia, and North Africa. The United States is proud to have a partner in Greece to help advance and defend democratic principles around the world.

In the United States, Greek Americans have contributed in ways large and small to the fabric of our nation. In arts, sports, politics, business – everywhere you look – Greek Americans have helped shape our country.

 

As we celebrate the anniversary of this great republic, know that the United States remains committed to this enduring alliance and the principles of your founding all those years ago. Our country is forever impacted and grateful for the contributions of Hellenes worldwide. Congratulations and best wishes for another 190 years of peace, progress and prosperity.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)

Read more: http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2011/March/20110324170706su0.7098897.html?CP.rss=true#ixzz1He68yEmc

Libya: the."Odyssey Dawn".[ 2214 ]

'Odyssey' or Limited Engagement? Libya Mission Title Sends Confusing Signal

AP

A 31st Fighter Wing United States Air Force F-16 jet fighter takes off at the Aviano NATO airbase in Aviano, Italy, March 25.

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By Judson Berger

Published March 25, 2011

| FoxNews.com

In Homer's Odyssey, protagonist Odysseus spends 10 years trying to reach Ithaca, encountering sirens and a cyclops along the way. 

In President Obama's "odyssey," the U.S. military gets involved in a limited engagement against the "mad dog" of the Middle East -- only one that's supposed to settle down in a matter of days. 

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As the U.S. military now concedes, perhaps "Operation Odyssey Dawn" wasn't the best name for this supposedly in-and-out mission. 

"We probably should have chosen something else, because people have read into that -- some type of long, enduring voyage," Eric Elliott, spokesman for U.S. Africa Command, told FoxNews.com. 

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It's anything but, the administration insists. With NATO taking partial control, U.S. officials claim the United States will soon be flying shotgun despite myriad concerns about Muammar al-Qaddafi's staying power and the extent to which America would use force to unseat him. 

But with a name like "odyssey," it's hard to make that case. 

The title of what may or may not be the United States' third concurrent war in a Muslim country rings of something epic. Like a Greek poem. Like a prog rock song (see The Dixie Dregs' seven-and-a-half-minute "Odyssey").

• Like a convoluted Stanley Kubrick film that leaves viewers bewildered and unfulfilled. 
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• Or, as Jon Stewart noted, like the title of a Yes album. 
• Or, as Stephen Colbert mused, "a Carnival cruise ship." 

"I have to surrender to America before they threaten me with unlimited shrimp!" Colbert exclaimed on Comedy Central. 

Comedians have to joke about something, but the Pentagon surely would hope the target's not as rudimentary as the name of the mission itself. 

Choosing these names, though, is a half-random, half-calculated science, with varying results. 

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In this case, a panel of representatives from different branches of the U.S. military was given a set of letters and told to craft a two-word mission. 

In the first word, the first letters had to either be between JS and JZ; NS and NZ; or OA and OF. The second word could be practically anything, provided it wasn't offensive. 

Elliott said the panel ended up with a list of about 100 words, and then narrowed that down to about 60 by weeding out the plainly inappropriate titles. 

"We're not going to call this nuclear dawn," he said. "We're not going to call this nubile dawn either." 

In the end, they chose "Odyssey Dawn" back in February. 

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As Elliott's alternate titles proved, they could have done worse. After all, there have been some random mission names in the past, like Golden Pheasant in Central America in 1988 and Eldorado Canyon in Libya two years before that. Other titles went a bit too far, like Urgent Fury in Grenada or Operation Killer during the Korean War. 

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At the end of the Vietnam War, the military drafted specific guidelines for naming military operations. Followed in the case of the Libyan conflict, those guidelines give the name-makers a block of letters to choose from for the first word, but rule out "exotic words," commercial trademarks and anything that would "express a degree of aggression inconsistent with traditional American ideals or current foreign policy." 

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Political and military leaders, though, do have leeway, as Gregory Sieminski wrote in his 1995 essay "The Art of Naming Operations." He wrote that since the late '80s, operations have been named "with an eye toward shaping domestic and international perceptions." That's how we ended up with "Just Cause" in Panama and "Desert Storm" in Iraq. 

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Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a senior fellow with the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, said "Odyssey Dawn" doesn't send the right signal for a mission already under criticism for potentially being open-ended. 

"It kind of denotes almost a wandering around the landscape," he said. "Odyssey, in this case ... reinforces the bad perceptions already out there."

NASA Image of the day, Mar 25th ....[ 2213 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Imagining Mars

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This composite of three artists' renderings from 1975 was only wish fulfillment for an unnamed JPL artist; however, the landscape and the rendered shapes took into account what was known about Mars that year.

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 Compared to Earth, Mars is further away from the light of the sun, very cold and very arid, and had a thin atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide but little nitrogen, an environment distinctly inhospitable to complex, Earth-like, carbon-based life forms. "Life on Mars" was envisioned as low to the ground, symmetrical and simple. 

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The artist drew silicon-based life forms, probably coached by others, perhaps scientists, who had thought about such possibilities. Peculiar saucer-like shapes stood only slightly above ground level, root-like structures reached outward for growth resources; a bundle of cones faced many directions for heat, light or food. 

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Instead of reality, the images embodied the artist's hope and anticipation of what future Martian exploration would find.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Παρασκευή, 25 Μαρτίου 2011 6:00:00 πμ

Egypt : Is the Muslim-Christian unity to last in future ?..[ 2212 ]

   Egypt :The  Muslim - Christian unity   

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VOA ., 24/3/2011 
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Egypt's Coptic community is the largest Christian population in the Arab world. But as Egyptian society takes shape in the aftermath of President Hosni Mubarak's resignation in February, questions arise over whether the Christian-Muslim unity that was evident during the popular uprising will hold. 

VOA's Suzanne Presto reports.
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