"Britain rules out sending combat troops to Libya" Topic

"Britain does not plan to deploy combat troops in Libya but will instead seek to give strategic and intelligence support to its new government, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Tuesday.

Islamic State forces have attacked Libya's oil infrastructure and established a foothold in the city of Sirte, exploiting a prolonged power vacuum in a country where two rival governments have been battling for supremacy.

"We will certainly want to support the new Libyan government in any practical way we can but I don't envisage that there will be a situation where we need or want to put combat troop boots on the ground," Hammond told reporters in Rome…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Always so nice to tell your enemy he has not to worry.

Not even a field kitchen or a reinforced latrine maintenance platoon?

Since we don't have any aircraft carriers to provide support, and our brand new type 45 ships don't work, send the three blokes left in the army with dodgy SA80s doesn't seem to be a good idea.

Based on what has and is going on all over the region. It would be a waste of time and money. And as pointed out, the UK like many others in NATO have severely down sized.

Even the US ARMY is downsizing by another 40,000. So if this keeps up. I'll expect to get recalled and have to be deployed to the battlefield in a wheelchair.

The Royal Treasury is empty. Why not let the Americans foot the bill of fighting Daesh?

Don't say that, you might offend our allies. And when I said it was a waste of time and money. I meant for all of NATO/the West … including Uncle Sam.

Vigiland… dude!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

New BBC report has senior IS leaders taking refuge in Libya to escape bombing by Russians and US, they have brought their troops with them.

Let them start sinking EU passenger ships in the Med as well as mount a few raids on Europe, and we'll see how the Brits here feel.

Hopefully that won't happen. However, with militant islam leave nothing to chance. They go out of their way to kill as many infidel non-combatants as possible. As they believe they are doing God's work.

Unfortunately, IS is already there. Most of EU still just want to pretend and ignore.

IS won't be taking hostages like the PLO used to, they want to kill as many infidels as possible in as spectacular a fashion as possible. With each new attrocity, their ranks swell.

Given how well other interventions have worked out, seems like a reasonable strategy.

I thought they'd fixed those SA80 issues.

We're broke too, having hit the $19 USD trillion mark, not to mention all the other tens of trillions in other unfunded liabilities too.

Perhaps Malta can help.

"With each new attrocity, their ranks swell."

No they are in trouble at the moment and not the safe option they once were. Like it or not we can thank Putin for that.

Once upon a time would be Jihadis could travel to Turkey sign up for their wages, get trained and drive into Syria pick up their Western supplied state of the art weapons and join in the fun in the Caliphate. Once in a while a coalition plane might be seen but as only one in ten ever found a target they might live with that. That is all changed now.

The flight of the Syrian ISIL high command to Libya is a set back for ISIL propoganda. Their forces there are mostly foreign fighters as usual. What is worth watching is how the ex Saddam's army ISIL commanders get on with the ex Gaddafi army ones in Sirte and negotiations are underway.

The EU is well aware of all this and of the fact that Cameron and Sarkozy were the archetects of the debacle that is Libya today. In due course there will be a call for US/NATO intervention. A wiser course might be a UN military intervention but if we were wise we would not be where we are.

Its not looking good.

Oh, we might get UN intervention, especially if Uncle Vlad still has a mad on after that aircraft bombing in Egypt.

Question is, how many nations would be willing to send troops.

It would be useful if such troops came from nations that have yet to be involved.

At a guess the Indonesians currently have the hump with the Saudis so maybe…the Irish are always game for UN stuff and I'd say China might as befits its newish status and self image. Who knows really though and a UN intervention verges on the sensible so probably that rules it out.

they are in trouble at the moment and not the safe option they once were. Like it or not we can thank Putin for that.

I had said before, Putin might be the Paladin in the fight to end Daesh. Part of it being they don't worry too much about CD and can pretty ruthless and aggressive if need be.

Like would you mind too much if a 21st Century Vlad Tepes was on a "crusade" to eliminate Deash ? Not that Vlad Putin is to be confused with Tepes …

Would a forest of impaled Daesh and AQ be too good a death for them ?