Many Americans are mystified by the Libya war strategy, and apparently the Libyan rebels feel the same way. Forced into retreat by Qadaffi’s forces yesterday, the top opposition general lashed out at NATO during a press conference.
“I would like to say to you people that NATO did not provide to us what we need,” said Abdul Fatah Younis. “NATO should be with us or we will ask the [Transitional National Council, the rebel government] to raise this to the Security Council. This is a dangerous situation.”
Younis seemed frustrated about what he sees as a lack of support from the allied forces. NATO takes up to eight hours to respond to calls for help from the ground, the rebels said.
“If NATO wanted to remove the siege on Misurata, they would have done so days ago,” Younis said. “And they’re using the excuse that ‘we don’t want to kill civilians.’ Every day, women, children and seniors are being killed. This crime will be hanging from the necks of the international community until the end of days.”
The rebels’ complaints appear to confirm concerns that the NATO handover could slow down the mission. NATO’s leadership structure reportedly makes it difficult to reach a cohesive decision. Adding to the problem, U.S. warplanes were pulled from the combat mission earlier this week.
