French Foreign Minister: Libya Ops Could Take "Days or Weeks"

By Matt Kane

I was reading the New York Times this morning for updates on the situation in Libya and yet again I was taken aback by what officials are saying (or not saying, really) about the coalition's plans in the North African country. While yesterday it was Robert Gates who was dominating the "What did he just say?" game, today it is Alain Juppe, the French Foreign Minister. He is quoted in the Times as saying

"The destruction of Qaddafi’s military capacity is a matter of days or weeks, certainly not months."

Days or weeks? Is that how the allies are operating? I pointed out yesterday that they were taking their time to meet in London to discuss the future of Libyan action, and it now seems clear why. When you ask someone for a timeline and they say, "Days of weeks," what they really mean is, "I have no idea."

Obviously Minister Juppe did not want people to think that the allies did not really know what was going on in terms of Libya, so he added that the military operations would not take months. This seems to be in contrast to what top advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Henri Guaino, said Monday. He was quoted saying that allied intervention in Libya would last "a while yet." Sounds more than "days or weeks" to me.

I don't think anyone can contest this statement anymore: The allies rushed into this military action against Libya with complete disregard to plans beyond the initial strikes. Juppe also told the Times that "You can’t expect us to achieve our objective in just five days." I don't think anyone did, except for the people calling the shots.

Photo - French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe (Wikipedia)

Gates: Libya? It's "Complicated"

Speaking from Russia days after that Eurasian giant's Prime Minister called the Libyan operations a "crusade," United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates deflected criticism of allied disorganization saying it was "complicated," adding

"We haven't done something like this, kind of on the fly before. So it's not surprising to me that it would take a few days to get it sorted out."

I don't really want to dwell on this because I've spoken a lot about Libya, but the fact that Gates' retort to the questions of what Jack Cafferty calls the "falling apart" of the allied coalition is "We're not really prepared for this, and it's really hard" is disconcerting. It sounds like something I would say in middle school about my math homework.

I'm no military commander, but to bomb targets in a country embroiled in a civil war "on the fly" might not be the best military strategy. Despite Obama's two promises of the United States not taking a leadership role, Gates today also offered to keep the United States leading the Libyan operations for the next week or so. From the New York Times:

But the United States military also indicated on Wednesday that it could sustain its role for some time in the Libya operation without damaging commitments elsewhere, notably in Afghanistan.

The allies who are standing behind the United States in the operations seem to be in no rush to overtake operations from America. From the same New York Times article:

The French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said on Wednesday that representatives from the United States, Europe, Africa and the Arab nations would meet next week in London to discuss who would be in charge of military operations once the initial onslaught on Libya’s air defense systems and recalcitrant ground forces was complete, The Associated Press said.

Next week? I would like to know what is preventing these countries from meeting before next week. It's clear that there was no plan beyond "Drop some bombs." This is the slowest "on the fly" coalition I've ever seen.

Photo - Defense Secretary Robert Gates (Wikipedia)