Military Escalation: "Phase Two" of the War on Libya

Published by GlobalResearch.ca on June 1, 2011

by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

A new phase of the war is unfolding leading to a process of military escalation as well as the eventual landing of US-NATO commandos on Libya’s shores.

An unprecedented deployment of naval power in the Mediterranean is occurring.

On June 1st, the member states of the Atlantic Alliance (NATO) meeting in Brussels decided to “renew the mission”, namely extend the war on Libya, “for another 90 days to late September”.

Since the beginning of the war on March 19, more than 10,000 sorties have been conducted. NATO acknowledges a total of 9036 sorties, including 3443 strike sorties over a two month period, (March 31, 2011-May 31, 2011).

Military operations are no longer limited to a high altitude bombing campaign, where strike targets are “pre-approved” and planned in advance. The deployment of helicopters and low altitude air operations are envisaged. The latter are to support the deployment of US-NATO commandos and rebel forces on the ground.

What is unfolding is an escalation of military operations, which at the same time is leading to a protracted war.

The USS George H W Bush supercarrier, the most advanced vessel in the US naval arsenal, together with its strike and carrier group has entered the Mediterranean, to join up with the Sixth Fleet in Naples.

Aircraft supercarrier USS George H W Bush (CVN77) is the World’s largest naval vessel: with “four-and-a-half acres of space on its flight deck, making it capable of housing 90 jets and helicopters. It is home to 5,500 crew”. Equipped with sophisticated electronic warfare systems, it is the World’s largest “mobile military base” (Manlio Dinucci, “Boots on the Ground”: Sarkozy and Cameron Prepare to Land in Libya, Global Research, May 31, 2011).

The USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group was sent on its “maiden voyage” to the Sixth Fleet area of naval operations, namely the Mediterranean.  It was “certified ready for combat operations” a month before the onset of the war on Libya. USS George H.W. Bush Strike Group Certified Combat Ready, February 21, 2011)

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