Donald Rumsfeld says forces in Libya were “confused”
March 24th, 2011 - 11:26 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattTripoli, Mar 24 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Former US Defense Secretary under the George W. Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld has lashed out at the military strategy of the American forces in Libya.
Rumsfeld said the forces seemed “confused” with the kind of strategy they are using. According to Rumsfeld, the fact that the American forces are not in charge of the international military coalition bombarding Libya means the mission does not have clear direction.
Rumsfeld further explained that ideally missions should have clearly defined course and achievements before it is embarked on. Rumsfeld said the opposite was the case in the case of the mission in Libya. According to Rumsfeld, the coalition got into Libya before they started defining the mission. He said that has got the mission confused.
Rumsfeld’s words were, “If peoples’ lives are at risk and you’re using military forces, you need to have a rather clear understanding as to who’s in charge and who’s making the decisions.”
The sentiments expressed by Rumsfeld is shared by many others who believe that the coalition’s mission in Libya was poorly planned resulting in it not being that effective.
The United States is part of the coalition of international forces enforcing a UN imposed no-fly zone over parts of Libya.
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Tags: american forces, bush administration, decisions, donald rumsfeld, fly, fly zone, george w bush, libya, military coalition, military forces, military strategy, missions, risk, sentiments, tripoli, united states, us defense secretary