Con Coughlin is the first journalist to report from inside the RAF's Italian base since the Libyan bombing raids began.
The Italian job: an RAF pilot prepares for a mission over Libya at Gioia del Colle in Italy Photo: Sgt Pete Mobbs; SAC Sally Raimondo
By Con Coughlin
10:00PM BST 29 May 2011
6 Comments
RAF fighter pilots are making their final checks for a combat mission over Libya when an intelligence report flashes across the operations room's computer screen. Pro-Gaddafi forces have been spotted setting up a checkpoint on the outskirts of Tripoli.
The report indicates that a group of fighters have parked their pick-up trucks on one of the main roads leading to the Libyan capital. Surveillance satellites have identified that the men are armed and, under the terms of the UN mandate, are deemed to pose a threat to the civilian population.
But, before an order can be given to attack the "technicals", to use the Nato jargon for pro-Gaddafi fighters, Nato officers must undertake a rigorous assessment of the risks posed to civilians if they order an air strike. This task is made more difficult by the fact that a low blanket of cloud has settled over Tripoli.
"We set the bar very high when it comes to protecting civilians," explains a senior RAF intelligence officer, who is part of the team that is constantly monitoring the Libyan battlefield. "We'd rather abort an air attack against a target than risk killing civilians."
This is not just a hi-tech war, it is an ethical war, and killing civilians is, in Nato's view, as disastrous to a mission's ultimate outcome as having one of its fighters shot down.
6 comments
savodj
27 minutes agoRecommended by
2 peopleNothing to be proud off.
pietorsyzygy
Yesterday 11:47 PMRecommended by
1 person I and my team have been in Gioia del Colleover the last couple of months gaining data on our targeting and telemetry systems that are installed on some of the aircraft involved in this conflict.
Talking to the aircrew it appears that not only are Gaddafi's military firing on the aircraft but also the rebels, who seem not to be able to identify their nationality.
This gives our aircrew a dilemma, are the people firing on them friends or foe? There have already been incidents reported whereby rebel fighters have been killed for being falsely identified. That is why Gaddafi's troops are resorting to using standard vehicles to launch some of their weapon systems. On first recon they look friendly and not locked on as targets but on damage assessment they open up with everything they have got.
So far, luckily, we have not lost any aircraft or personnel. Our intelligence is good though, so mistakes are few and far between.
And the good news for me is that my systems have now been proven in battle, which results more orders for my organisation. UK based with only a few components manufactured outside of the country, and all of those within the Western Europe.
It is a shame that those new orders are virtually all from Middle Eastern customers!
_ AWoLsco
15 minutes agoCan' t you find some useful peaceful application or is it all part of a game?
Have you ever stopped and thought seriously about your life's work and its moral implications?
Does one have to be in the business of killing people to make any money these days? Report Recommend
AWoLsco
Yesterday 11:00 PMRecommended by
4 peopleNever before in the field of human conflict have so many been conned out of so much by so few.....for f... all.
dangerous mission....no opposition.....press a couple of buttons....job done. Back home for tea and biccies.
This isn't any Battle of Britain. This is something else....and it doesn't look good at all. Report Recommend
harrier61
Yesterday 10:39 PMRecommended by
3 peopleAnybody think that only anarchists, assholes, dipsticks, cowards, rats and Gaddafi supporters are against action by Britain and NATO?
_ AWoLsco
24 minutes agoRecommended by
1 person Spare a thought for the poor old British taxpayer.
My microlight costs £50hr to fly. OK a jet is going to cost a bit more. I could live with say £500/hr . But come on, £50,000/ hr! Absolutely insane. Fine for intercepting the Russians, if they ever come, but all this joyriding back and forth from Italy to Libya just to cause devastation supporting "rebels" who may turn out to be worse than Ghaddafi?
I'm no Ghadaffi supporter. That's the point I couldn't give a stuff one way or the other.Let them sort it out themselves. It's just a local tribal spat.
Then there's your cruise missiles...£600,000 a pop, all gone up in smoke. Use once only. I could buy a hundred microlights with that and have enough change left over to run them for ages.
Can't you find something cheaper?
Where can we get the figures so that we know how much it's costing?
Don' t tell me. That's all a bit hush hush....always bleedin' is.
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Với những nguồn tin và những nhận định, ý kiến, phê bình ... khác nhau, các anh chị nghĩ thế nào về những ý kiến, phê bình trên về tình hình Libya hiện nay ???
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
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Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
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Nguyễn Hoài Trang
30052011
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