Strategy! - Libya Edition

[Blaze]

The Maps:













Describe the Revolutionary Forces:

1. Leader/s:

A. Strengths -

B. Weaknesses -

2. Organization:

A. Strengths -

B. Weaknesses -

3. Armaments (Physical and perceived):

A. Strengths -

B. Weaknesses -

Describe the Gaddafi Regime:

1. Leader/s:

A. Strengths -

B. Weaknesses -

2. Organization:

A. Strengths -

B. Weaknesses -

3. Armaments (Physical and perceived):

A. Strengths -

B. Weaknesses -

Discuss

[ELVIS]

[Blaze]

These planes of Gaddafi are really a pain in the arse.

What good is a no fly zone issued by whomever? Useless I tell you.
The planes need to be stopped.

Considering the resources, I would say send in 25, or there abouts, coked-up cowboys to sugar the tanks (or something similar). They have to be coked-up good so they will be skittish, bold, and grandiose in their belief in themselves because they are operating with instinct not training.

[Blaze]

Correction : Ritalin or Pharmaceutical cocaine (or something medically similar) not the slang term I used.

[Kristy]

Anyone find it a wee bit ironic that Gaddafi, whether on his medication or off, and Libya with its "sweet crude" is enough to buy the latest in Soviet MiGs or that its the French being the first to call for a "no fly zone" while selling Dassault Mirage's to his air force?

[Blaze]

As long as it is not food or water (morally wrong to destroy), it is best to forgo the possible pillage and destroy assets or severely disable them.

[Blaze]

Despite the creation of a breakaway Kurdish enclave, and the most crippling sanctions imposed in modern times, Hussein held on to power until he was deposed in 2003 by a “shock and awe” air campaign and ground invasion of US troops.

“What happened as we know is that Saddam quickly solidified his support base, and the separation of the Kurdish areas from Baghdad actually helped him, because it isolated the contagion; then he used sanctions to strengthen his position,” says Dodge.

Now, he says, Qaddafi faces a similar situation.

“We have revolt in Benghazi, too disorganized to defeat him, which means either [Qaddafi] can roll it back in or he can just take that portion of the country – a thorn in the side of the regime ever since the [1969] revolution – and isolate it. He then falls back on his heartland, where he’s strong … and then solidifies a potentially defendable position.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middl...-1991/(page)/2

[Blaze]

True or false???
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

International banks are refusing to clear payments in U.S. dollars for the Libyan oil trade, Reuters ...

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...08-710358.html

[hambon4lif]

By their positioning, it looks as if they're utilizing the Sun Tzu strategy, almost to the letter. If Misrata and Zawlya are deliberate diversions, it could be very effective.

[Blaze]

Washington (CNN) -- Libya's helicopter forces are its greatest threat, the head of the Marine Corps said Tuesday.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, asked Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James F. Amos about Libya's air capabilities during a committee hearing held to discuss the Navy's portion of the 2012 Defense budget request.

"I think it's modest," Amos responded. "I think probably their greatest threat are their helicopter-type forces."

Helicopters would be more difficult to target if the international community set up a no-fly zone. Such a zone would typically be enforced by fighter jets whose speed and altitude make it difficult to target helicopters, which move low and slow.

Amos didn't know how many helicopters and fixed wing aircraft the Libyan government has but said the forces are predominately concentrated in four airbases around Tripoli.

"Has it been your experience in combat if the enemy controls the air above, particularly in terrain like Libya, it gives them an enormous advantage," McCain asked.

Amos would not answer the question directly, calling the environment where the Gadhafi forces are located "very complex."

"Sir, I think there are several things that would give the enemy enormous advantage. One is the ground movement of forces, vehicles, movement on the ground," Amos said. "So I think it's more than just aviation."

The Libyan Air Force has major deficiencies in its operational capabilities, according to Jane's Information Group, which does analysis of military forces. Its assessment notes it is possible that contract officers fly important missions due to the "low standard of locally trained aircrew."

Libya's Air Force command is in Tripoli, according to Jane's. Their helicopter fleet is small, perhaps no more than a few dozen attack helicopters built more than 30 years ago, it says. But the Air Force is believed to have many utility helicopters, as well, which can be used to move troops and equipment.

Compared with NATO pilots, Libya's fighter jet pilots are believed to get four times less training in the air, Jane's says, and Russian pilots who have been to Libya say that the Libyan pilots have a hard time tolerating high-altitude maneuvers. Most fighter jets are the old Soviet-era MiGs, and fewer than 200 are operational, according to Jane's.

McCain expressed frustration with the lack of answers to some of his questions, including a question on whether Amos had heard reports about Gadhafi flying mercenaries from other countries into Libya. Amos said he had not.

"You have been getting regular briefings?" McCain asked Amos. Amos said he had.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/...hearing.libya/

[Blaze]

And finally, the official words for the isolated.

Voice of America ®
A Trusted Source of News & Information since 1942

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/...117589018.html


Correspondent Debriefer: An Inside View of the Situation in Benghazi, Libya

[IMG]http://media.voanews.com/images/480*347/reu_benghazi_480_8mar11.jpg[/IMG]

[chefcraig]

By their positioning, it looks as if they're utilizing the Sun Tzu strategy, almost to the letter. If Misrata and Zawlya are deliberate diversions, it could be very effective.

Yeah, I liked Stratego when I was a kid, as well.


Yet the older I got, the more I enjoyed Othello. Easier to play when lit.

[hambon4lif]

I like 'GO' myself......

Facetiousness? Really??!?!?

[Nitro Express]

Another spat to sell weapons to.

[Nitro Express]

My father in law was a product manager on the Comanche attack helicopter program. It was scrapped because attack helicopters are obsolete due to shoulder fired missiles. They are just too slow. Attack aircraft and drones have replaced them.

[Blaze]

By their positioning, it looks as if they're utilizing the Sun Tzu strategy, almost to the letter. If Misrata and Zawlya are deliberate diversions, it could be very effective.

I ordered the book, the card deck, and the CD.

[ELVIS]

With your welfare money ??

[Nitro Express]

They made us read The Art of War in one of my management classes and then in marketing we had to read Guerilla Marketing. Business School was full of warmongers.

[hambon4lif]

With your welfare money ??

Are you really a misogynist? Or are you just posting stuff to beat off to?

[Jagermeister]

Are you really a misogynist? Or are you just posting stuff to beat off to?

ELVIS hates women?

[Blaze]

Elvis, you are a ninny.

Nitro,
Elvis does not exactly hate woman. He is simply frustrated. He dressing, acting, and on occasion playing catch (though noted... he has been "cured") as a woman. Perhaps, when he was younger had he more gumption and born in an different era, he would have had the operation. And I think he would have made a quite fine woman. I do not think he would have been near as bitter as a woman as he is a male.
Even with his dominate manly features of time, he is quite a warm womanly presence about him.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

ELVIS hates women?

you googled it, dintcha?

[hambon4lif]

Elvis, you are a ninny.

Nitro,
Elvis does not exactly hate woman. He is simply frustrated. He dressing, acting, and on occasion playing catch (though noted... he has been "cured") as a woman. Perhaps, when he was younger had he more gumption and born in an different era, he would have had the operation. And I think he would have made a quite fine woman. I do not think he would have been near as bitter as a woman as he is a male.
Even with his dominate manly features of time, he is quite a warm womanly presence about him.

I hope he gets reincarnated as a black woman. It would serve his punk-ass right.

[Blaze]

Thank you, people of the internet!

Whooohoo! I got my packages today!

I ordered 2 box sets of The Art of War



One set is shown above. The cards are super cool. They have a text from The Art of War on one side and a commentary explination on the other side.
Both box sets are from the Denma Translation Group. I highly recommend this translation, especially with the commentary.

The other box set is the book with 3 CDs one CD has only the text of the book. The other two have the 2 commentaries included, one for each.

That gives me 2 books, the card set, and the 3 CDs.

I will most likely burn the CDs to a digital file and put the CD box set up for a simple contest of some sort, some where.

They were both very reasonable, therefore the contest is more for fun. Though both box sets are out of print.



Whoohoo. Very useful this book and audio are, especially if one is able to visualize dynamically in a continuum.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Thank you, people of the internet!

Whooohoo! I got my packages today!

I ordered 2 box sets of The Art of War



One set is shown above. The cards are super cool. They have a text from The Art of War on one side and a commentary explination on the other side.
Both box sets are from the Denma Translation Group. I highly recommend this translation, especially with the commentary.

The other box set is the book with 3 CDs one CD has only the text of the book. The other two have the 2 commentaries included, one for each.

That gives me 2 books, the card set, and the 3 CDs.

I will most likely burn the CDs to a digital file and put the CD box set up for a simple contest of some sort, some where.

They were both very reasonable, therefore the contest is more for fun. Though both box sets are out of print.



Whoohoo. Very useful this book and audio are, especially if one is able to visualize dynamically in a continuum.

one could make a mint on this site off a blaze thesaurus/translator

[Blaze]

I hope he gets reincarnated as a black woman. It would serve his punk-ass right.

I up your hopes to a prayer!
Wow, reading my first writing, one would think I have been hanging out with foreigners.

[hambon4lif]

That's awesome!

You have to be careful of which version you get, though. That book's been translated almost as many times as the Bible.

Damn good book! By the time you get to the end of it, you'll figure out there is no such thing as an opponent....not a worthy one anyways.

Happy reading!

[Blaze]

I researched the book and various translations throughly before ordering. This translation was highly recommended. I was hesitant of this translation because it was new work. However, I researched the Denma Translation Group credentials and found them superior to the standardized accepted translators. I would agree with others, especially upon hearing the CDs that this translation is now the standard.

I have endeavored into many books that have translation and commentary. The only way this could be improved would be to add the actual script, transliteration, and verbatim translation. However, that would be a thick book and at least 4 more CDs.

[Blaze]

If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.
Sun Tzu



What were some of the best large weaponry of the middle ages?

[Blaze]

[Blaze]

http://books.google.com/books?id=JPm...page&q&f=false

The art of the catapult: build Greek ballistae, Roman onagers, English ... By William Gurstelle

[BigBadBrian]

I hope he gets reincarnated as a black woman. It would serve his punk-ass right.

I hope you get reincarnated as a man. Then you'll finally know what it's like.

[Blaze]

Close your eyes and visualize.
Understand the past as if the future.
Understand the future as if the past.
Now is either one of the two.
To hear become deaf
To see become blind

~~~~~
One skilled at moving the enemy

Forms and the enemy must follow,
Offers and the enemy must take.

-The Art of War. SHIH

[Seshmeister]

[Blaze]

[Blaze]

[As we watched the news channels report on the missile strikes by the US against a military defence target near Tripoli, several friends in different parts of the city told me they saw ambulances driving around the city in circles - seemingly aimlessly - with their sirens on.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

I could hear people shouting and screaming”

Man detained by secret police
They believe the government was attempting to cause panic among residents here and "give the illusion that there are casualties somewhere".

[Blaze]

The men of Bengahzi'

There is a joke circulating amongst Tripoli's men: "When Libya is liberated, our brothers in Benghazi will march to the capital with containers of women's underwear to distribute to us."

They collapse in laughter as they tell the tale and sip on their coffee.

At least one woman in Tripoli has expressed a similar view, but this was no gag, as far as I'm aware. The incident was witnessed by my relative's friend at a bank in the Souk al-Jumaa district.


Col Gaddafi still has some supporters in Tripoli
An old woman, in her late 70s at least, I'm told, entered the bank to collect her 500 Libyan dollars ($410; £253) in state aid announced a couple of weeks ago.

There were two long queues - one for men and one for women. She stood in the men's queue.

The men urged her to move to the women's section. "Why?" she challenged.

A man told her: "Ya haja [a term of respect for an elderly woman] this line is for men, women is the other one".

She loudly replied: "No. All the men are in Benghazi."

The room is said to have been stunned into silence and she remained in her place until her turn came and she walked out with her money.

It is perhaps a bittersweet private reminder of how frustrated many here are at the lack of efforts in Tripoli in recent weeks to defy the regime and take to the streets.

However it is also placated by the fact that they did try - twice - and were met with a force so brutal that they conceded it was simply a suicidal task. There is considerable anger brewing behind closed doors here in Tripoli.

[Blaze]

[Blaze]

Many local businesses have even reverted to fax machines to communicate with the outside world. The internet has been shut down for almost two weeks now.

Fake smiles
I visited an old friend earlier this week.

His son arrived home from university shortly after we sat down for an afternoon coffee.

When I asked him how his studies were going, he replied: "I was standing talking with a friend on campus just before I left the university and this girl we know came up to us and loudly announced that al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya news channels had been erased from their channel list because she and her family only watch one 'true' channel, al-Libiyah [the state-owned one].


"We just silently nodded with a fake smile and said our goodbyes."

There is disappointment in his voice as he carries on: "I can't believe she is so blind - you think maybe she was pretending because there were people watching us there?" he asks.

His father and I knowingly shook our heads like ageing wise men but could offer nothing in response.

...

Several primary school teachers recount similar stories of young pupils being questioned by school employees aligned to the regime's Revolutionary Committee Movement, which is being used to suppress dissent.

...

Back at my friend's home we briefly switch channels to watch the state-run al-Libiyah. There's a man on the screen "confessing" the error of his ways to the Libyan leader in what appears to be a tent.

My friend tells me of a report he saw on the channel, warning the public of "cars being rigged with bombs in crowded areas" - by the ever elusive al-Qaeda elements in the country, that is.

"This means the regime is going to start doing that," my old friend concludes.

...

[Blaze]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12806112
Canada, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Qatar are also offering military support.