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U.S. predator drones over Libya. That according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- who announced Thursday President Obama has approved the use of unmanned aircraft.
Predator drones can fly slower and closer to the ground than their peers -- giving missions more precision. Secretary Gates said the drones have a “limited additional role” for the U.S. military -- who since handing over control of the Libya campaign to NATO -- has been providing only intelligence and surveillance. (Video from Military News Network)
Reporting from Tripoli - CNN’s Fred Pleitgen thinks the drones could really help turn the tide against embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
“...what you're trying to hit there are targets that are entrenched in urban areas it is very densely populated, Gadhafi is hiding his military equipment, hardware under things like trees, hiding them in schools, also using civilian vehicles out there so you have to strike those targets as precisely as possible.”
But the announcement is controversial -- with critics arguing the use of drones oversteps the U.N. Security Council mandate of protecting civilians. Merits aside -- there’s no question the rebels could use the help.
Turkish newspaper Al Masry Al Youm describes the scene at the formerly rebel-held town of Ajdabiya.
“Ajdabiyah is a ghost town. Shattered windows mark the facades of vacant houses and burned out tanks line the city’s streets. Evidence of heavy gunfire exchange is everywhere.”
Secretary Gates calls the drones a “modest contribution.” Still Fox News’ Shepard Smith warns of so-called “mission creep” -- what started as a decidedly limited role snowballing into something much bigger.
“...Predator drones. The ones we have used to varying degrees of success and making people angry along Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now we will use those in a place we are not having war and we have not taken sides in Libya. ... Sometimes the facts get in the way of what they say, because in this case there is no war, we have in the taken sides, and there is no mission creep. ... We have learned this: ‘SPEAK creep.’”
The Obama administration still says -- no troops on the ground in Libya. It’s also said it had no intention of expanding the military’s role beyond intelligence gathering. The Daily Mail’s David Gardner says -- with the drones -- the White House gets to have it both ways.
“Deployment of the Predators is meant to send a message to critics who have complained that the Obama administration is not pulling its weight in Libya to help the embattled rebels. At the same time, the president can sell the move to a sceptical public by insisting that no American lives are being put at risk.”
The “no American lives at risk” part is what Washington Insider’s Jimmy Williams likes best about the plan. He tells MSNBC -- it’s a good idea -- so good in fact -- it should have been done weeks ago.
JIMMY WILLIAMS: “But NATO's leading this war, if you will, or this mission. And us sending those in, it's no troops. ... If that's what it takes to keep your troops and journalists and civilians out of harm's way, I support it. I want it done and done quickly.”
Easier said than done -- writes The Washington Post’s David Ignatius -- who’s covered the growing use of drones by the Defense Department.
“...this extension to the Libyan theater is a mistake. It brings a weapon that has become for many Muslims a symbol of the arrogance of U.S. power… [N]ow the United States will use them to beef up a stalemated NATO campaign in Libya, on behalf of a rebel army that very well may include Islamic radicals who, under other circumstances, might themselves have been targets of Predator attack.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday Gaddafi’s forces might be using cluster bombs on the opposition.
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