Courtesy of Barack Obama’s foreign policy.
“Isis in Libya: How Muhammar Gaddafi’s anti-aircraft missiles are falling into the jihadists’ hands,” by Jonathan Broder, Independent, March 11, 2016:
Deep in the Sahara, in the sun-baked Libyan town of Sabha, a ragtag group of gunmen agreed to show Timothy Michetti their most prized weapons.
Mr Michetti, an experienced investigator for a London-based company that tracks the sources of small arms in conflict zones, travelled there on a hunch. Local fighters, he reckoned, may have some of the shoulder-held anti-aircraft missiles that disappeared when rebels ousted the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
In the sweltering heat, the gunmen unveiled a small arsenal: four Russian-made SA-7 missiles and two later models of the SA-16 variety. The heat-seeking missiles are capable of shooting down a civilian airliner.
The fighters said they acquired the weapons from nomadic smugglers on their way to illicit weapons bazaars in neighbouring Chad. But after comparing the missiles’ serial numbers to those in his company’s database, Mr Michetti confirmed his hunch: these had been Gaddafi’s arms.
The missiles had no grip stocks or launchers, which rendered them unusable, but that wasn’t much of a relief. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of working Libyan shoulder-held missiles remain unaccounted for, American and UN officials say; some have probably fallen into the hands of Isis jihadists, US intelligence sources say. They add that as Isis continues to exploit Libya’s four-year civil war between two main rival factions, the group is likely to use these weapons as it fights to widen its strategic foothold in Libya to include the country’s oil fields. There’s some evidence the group has already succeeded.
No one has downed a passenger plane using stolen Libyan missiles, known in military parlance as “manpads” or man-portable air defence systems, yet the likelihood that Isis now has these weapons in Libya means the group or its affiliates could be well-equipped to strike at civilian aircraft in Africa or Europe, US officials say. “These missiles are very portable and easily smuggled,” says a senior State Department official who leads a special team given the job of securing the Libyan missiles. “All it takes is for one to get through.”
Despite the dangers these Libyan missiles pose, the Obama administration has effectively stopped trying to locate and destroy them, State Department officials say. The main reason is that it’s too dangerous to go looking for them in Libya.
It’s unclear how many missiles remain at large. According to both US and UN officials, Gaddafi accumulated an estimated 20,000 shoulder-held manpads during his four decades in power. Yet these officials stress that attrition, poor maintenance and the Nato bombing campaign during the 2011 revolution reduced that number by the time the dictator was overthrown….
salim says
The way Libya was brought down ( mainly by UK/France ) was more messy than Iraq. Lack of control on military arsenal was bound to lead to this chaos. I suspect things started to go out of hand immediately after the fall of the regime. Some arms may have been smuggled to far away places waiting for the right moment to make a kill.
Con Ken says
Uh, sorry, Obama had a big part in gadaffi take down, on the side Italy and Spain paid the lybian president to not allow Muslims to cross into Europe, and the lybian president kept the bargain, with USA, Britain being the main countries to destroy lybia infrastructure and killing kadafee, they destroyed the saftey net of Europe. Every dictatorship, which is only way to control nuckle dragging Muslims, is taken down, the middle East gets worse, and USA backed Muslims go insane with blood lust, cause they are the scourge of the earth. Useless, and if u took the top 1% and killed the rest, the world would be a better place, but that isn’t going to happen, so now, the middle East wars, Obama definitely induced, war mongering bastar he is, now we have Europe and their stupid left wing govts, going to the dogs of Muslim he ll.
SpiritOf1683 says
The fact is, cameron was the prime mover in the toppling of Gaddafi. Obama and Hollande went along with him. Of course, cameron has succeeded in washing his hands of his Libyan debacle. And to prove he’d learned nothing from this fiasco, he wanted to preside over an even bigger one in Syria, and he would have committed our resources to toppling Assad and giving IS its biggest shot in the arm had Cameron himself not lost a Commons vote, with his usual beetroot face. Of all the Western leaders, Cameron is the biggest fool. He is an incompetent pighead who never believes he is wrong, even when he is, and that he is always right and everybody else is always wrong.
Dom107 says
Yes the stupidity of Britain and France getting involved in the overthrow of Gaddafy shows that former colonial powers never learn the lesson that intervention in the Islamic world brings no benefit.Overthrowing a dictator there will not and never lead to a democratic liberal democracy but only to chaos and religious extremism.I predicted this and blogged about it at the time and sadly this has come true.Gadaffy was a nut and a bad dude but better than what there is now with Daesch now involved and people wanting out
Germans have the chance now to send a serious message to that stupid woman Merkel in today’s elections.Let’s hope they take it !!!!😠😠😠
Angemon says
Callous Hillary cackled and said “we came, we saw, he died”, referring to the rape, torture and public lynching of Gaddafi at the hands of islamic “extremists”. Later, when islamic “extremists” did the same to the American ambassador, she tried to cover her ass and blame it on a youtube video.
Christianblood says
Let alone “anti-aircraft missiles ” the crazed regime changers of this world will one day put nukes into the hands of the murderous islamic jihadists. Given the way their feeble brains (the brains of the regime changers) work, NO doubt in my mind that this will become a reality one day.
Angemon says
Christianblood posted:
“the crazed regime changers of this world will one day put nukes into the hands of the murderous islamic jihadists. Given the way their feeble brains (the brains of the regime changers) work, NO doubt in my mind that this will become a reality one day.”
They already have. The Russians helped develop Iran’s nuclear weapons program, specifically when the ballistic missile program.
Christianblood says
Angemon
It is clear who the regime changers are and Russia is not one of them.
Angemon says
Christianblood posted:
“Angemon
It is clear who the regime changers are and Russia is not one of them.”
Really? You’re trying to tell us that Russia never had any part in changing any regime? Pull my other leg…
Western Canadian says
The only country where the Russians have not worked for regime change…
Keys says
Yes, and if I remember correctly, the Germans helped the Iranians built their underground nuclear sites.
DBM says
Our friends the Germans built a lot of Saddams C2 command bunkers all over Iraq as well as many other underground structures. They gave us the finger in the first war when we asked for locations and building schematics.
Keys says
@Angemon “Callous Hillary cackled…”
Indeed so, she and her minions are despicable !
Christianblood says
Mickey Oberman
Please don’t blame it all on Obama because America backed and allied with the Taliban, Al’qaida, Osama Bin-Laden, the Balkan islamic jihadists and the Chechnyan jihadists long before Obama came into the scene. US Government Planned And Even Funded A Failed Muslim Conquest Of Russia As Far Back As The 1950s. Read it below please: http://www.infowars.com/did-you-know-the-cia-planned-a-muslim-invasion-of-russia-2/
Angemon says
The paid troll is still peddling the same propaganda, despite avoiding the same questions over and over.
“Please don’t blame it all on Obama because America backed and allied with the Taliban, Al’qaida, Osama Bin-Laden, the Balkan islamic jihadists and the Chechnyan jihadists long before Obama came into the scene.”
To help kick the Russians out of Afghanistan, right?
“US Government Planned And Even Funded A Failed Muslim Conquest Of Russia As Far Back As The 1950s. Read it below please:”
Again, have you read the actual article? How does fomenting an independence movement qualifies as trying to invade Russia?
Christianblood says
Angemon posted:
(…To help kick the Russians out of Afghanistan, right?…)
No. to overthrow the pro Russian government in Afghanistan, America funded, armed, trained and supported the Taliban, Osama Bin-Laden and his Alqaida islamic jihadists and facilitated tens of thousands of islamic jihadists who were traveling from Saudi Arabia and from across the Arab world. Thank you Angemon, your words prove my point that in order to hurt Russia, America would ally itself with the worst kind of barbaric islamo-fascists such as Alqaida or ISIS or Bin-laden or others and that is what the US did back then and is still doing today by allying itself with the barbaric Saudis, ISIS, Al-nusra and with the genocidal Turks. Read more of it below:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/10/12/us-military-airdrops-50-tons-ammo-for-syrian-fighters-after-training-mission/?intcmp=hplnws
Shame! Shame!
Western Canadian says
There was no pro Russian government, you lying @ss. Ho much do you get paid to come by here and post your garbage?
Christianblood says
Western Canadian posted:
(…There was no pro Russian government…)
Are you really serious when you are making such statement???
Have you ever heard the most progressive, liberal leader that Afghanistan has ever had in its whole story? The man who tried to hugely modernize Afghanistan and sent millions of Afghani girls and boys to schools only to be sabotaged and derailed by hordes of islamic jihadist fascists backed by Saudi Arabia and by America. Have you ever Babrak Karmal?
Angemon says
Christianblood posted;
“Have you ever heard the most progressive, liberal leader that Afghanistan has ever had in its whole story? The man who tried to hugely modernize Afghanistan and sent millions of Afghani girls and boys to schools”
Muhammad Taraki carried out a coup, aligned with the regime you claim not to be a regime changer. Taraki had tens of thousands of political prisoners killed (can you say “Soviet playbook”?) and was later killed under orders from the Soviets.
“only to be sabotaged and derailed by hordes of islamic jihadist fascists backed by Saudi Arabia and by America”
The 1978 coup was backed by the KGB. The Soviet puppet in power, Taraki, had tens of thousands of people killed in good old Soviet fashion. And, when he outlived his usefulness, he was killed, in good old Soviet Fashion. And guess what happened to Hafizullah Amin, his murderer and successor? That’s right, good old Soviet fashion – bang bang.The Afghans, like other people under Soviet oppression, rebelled. There was no American conspiracy in that.
You realize you’re trying to defend Russian invasion and meddling in other countries’ policies, invasion and regime changes on the same topic you stated Russia is no regime changer, right? You’re not really trying to be taken seriously, are you? Just trying to strive to get your daily quota of posts and cash your check.
Angemon says
Christianblood posted:
“No. to overthrow the pro Russian government in Afghanistan”
What pro-Russian government? You guys set up a coup and a puppet in Afghanistan, the Afghanis rebelled after tens of thousand of then were killed by said puppet, you invaded Afghanistan to combat the rebellion and killed TWO Afghani presidents in the process. And those were two PRO-RUSSIAN presidents.
“Thank you Angemon, your words prove my point that in order to hurt Russia, America would ally itself with the worst kind of barbaric islamo-fascists”
Lol! Hypocrite. Russia is allied with Iran, a suicidal genocidal terrorist sponsoring jihadi state. You helped to develop their nuclear weapons program. Russia is where the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” were forged, Iran wants to wipe the Jewish state of Israel off the map, and Israel is an ally of the US – seems like a match made in heaven…
How about if you first take the plank out of your own eye before complaining about specks in other people’s eyes?
David, Thailand says
During the fraud known as the ‘Arab Spring’, Obama’s stooge, NATO, was able to identify and track Qaddafi’s convoy and disable his car after instructing our ‘friendly’ rebels precisely where to catch up, but couldn’t locate several 1000-truck convoys leading from his arsenals throughout Libya into surrounding countries including Egypt, which was then controlled the Muslim Brotherhood.
I’m sure that was a sheer coincidence, and nothing to do with the Muslim in the White House.
Christianblood says
Very well-said!
DBM says
Thank you hillary/obama. Thankfully most are worthless now but it only takes one still functional to do the job
Jay Boo says
Obama – Hillary (Stand Down)
If Ambassador Stevens had lived we might have learn of the massive misappropriation of weapons from the so called “friendlies” to the hard core Jihadis.
The latest news I heard is Obama is trying to pin all his faults and blame on France and England.
SpiritOf1683 says
To be honest, nobody wanted Gaddafi removing more than Cameron. Day after day, we were treated to his piggy face on TV and had to listen to his Old Etonian monotones telling us how evil Gaddafi was etc etc. This pighead wasted billions on sending RAF jets and cruise missiles over Libya, and what did we get in return? The smashed-up tombstones of our fallen World War II vets was a foretaste of what was to come, and not so long afterwards, we withdrew from our Libyan Embassy with our tails between our legs. If people thought Libya was a terrorist state before, they’ve seen nothing yet. Everything that bloated incompetent fool has done has aided IS.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
SpiritOf1683 says
The year 1683, say, wasn’t that the last time Western infidels showed some backbone in resisting Moslem aggression? I can’t think of anything since. If ya like numerology, it’s telling that it’s been 333 years since then.
SpiritOf1683 says
You might be able to say 1697 at Zenta, where a Turkish Army of 50,000 was wiped out by an Austrian Army led by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Or 1898 where the Dervishes were destroyed by Kitchener at Omdurman. Since then, nothing.
SpiritOf1683 says
And what was the date of Zenta? You’ve guessed it – 11th September 1697.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
It is notable that the Harvard Genius Ted Cruz never mentions that Hillary is responsible for this. 10,000 ground to air missiles on the loose, what at this point does it matter? It was only Rand Paul who made the public observation that a Dar al-Islam dictator is our best situation. The policy disaster of the Arab Spring has never been debated, it’s as if it was something that happened independent of American policy.
Libya is our worst gaffe yet, deposing a self-disarmed Moslem dictator and leaving a power vaccum to be filled by an Arab Spring Sharia war state. Good move, Hillary. Smart. Yale Law Tool smart. Too bad nobody will bring this up during the campaign.
Santiago Matamoros says
That’s because even if Hillary was responsible for this, she is under the Obama umbrella who has never been questioned about anything. To this day, he blames, accuses, misdirect, any and everything and has refused to accept responsibility for any thing that has happened in his presidency. IRS, FAST AND FURIOUS, E.P.A. TRILLION DOLLARS SHOVEL READY JOBS, B.L.M. Black Lies Matter, George Soros, Bill Ayers, Planned Parenthood, moveon.org,
Mark Swan says
You Got It