The duration of the Libya campaign cannot be predicted Liam Fox has said, suggesting that military commanders could be preparing for the conflict to last for months.
Libyan rebels in Al-Qawalish in the western mountains of Libya Photo: AP
and Damien McElroy
6:07PM BST 13 Jul 2011
12 Comments
The campaign was originally mandated for 90 days but it is now approaching four months with little sign of Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime collapsing.
Although the Nato mission has been extended to continue until September the Defence Secretary suggested there was no guarantee that the Libyan government would have been toppled by then.
"We can, and have, planned for operations such as those we are undertaking but no one can predict how long a complex intervention will take," Dr Fox told an assembly of top ranking RAF officers during an Air Power conference at the Royal United Services Institute.
He admitted that sustaining the high tempo of air strikes both from RAF Tornado and Typhoons, as well as Navy warships and Army Apaches attack helicopters did "increase the pressure on both personnel and equipment as planning assumptions are tested, and it tests the ability of defence companies to support front-line operations".
The RAF has made 1,500 sorties destroying up to 600 military targets over Libya. Dr Fox said that Britain along with its allies would sustain the Libyan campaign "for as long as it takes".
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Even so, diplomatic efforts to establish formal talks between Gaddafi's officials and the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC), which controls breakaway parts of the country, have intensified in recent days. Military planners have been told that the establishment of a peace process would trigger a ceasefire and the suspension of air strikes on government positions.
NTC officials hope to present a road map or set of principles for the talks at a summit meeting in Istanbul on Friday. The document would bolster the position of Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, the UN special envoy on Libya, who last week met Col Gaddafi's prime minister, al-Mahmud al-Baghdadi.
Mr Khatib briefed the UN Security Council on Tuesday on the results of his shuttle diplomacy between the two sides. He said: "The process of negotiating a solution has begun, though we are still, regrettably, a considerable distance from finding the solution."
Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, claimed this week that Col Gaddafi had despatched multiple envoys overseas with a message that he was willing to stand down.
Dr Fox's remarks come after The Daily Telegraph published a leaked document last month that showed the head of RAF combat operations warning that its ability to carry out future missions was under threat if the campaign continued beyond the summer.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant said intense air operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East were placing a "huge" demand on equipment and personnel.
In a briefing paper delivered to senior politicians he said morale among airmen was "fragile" and their fighting spirit was threatened by being overworked.
Mahmoud Jebril, a senior NTC official said yesterday that indirect talks needed a framework to succeed. He said. "There are ideas flying in the air from one capital to another, but no coherent, comprehensive initiative has so far put on the table."
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Showing 14 comments
barbarafrances
1 minute ago
This was Cameron's mistake this war, as Iraq was Blairs mistake, why do they keep doing these mistakes which cost us plenty. As for staying for months, well, who going to pay for it, us I suppose the suckers who pay the taxes. Why do we keep voting for these stupid men and women time and time again? They do the same things time and time again, and yet we keep supporting them. For me Iraq was the end game, I thought Cameron was different, I was wrong. He misled us with his waffle, we believed, fools that we were. Take the EU referendum, we mildly accepted his explanation, why? Promises broken at will, unacceptable to us who elected him. Now we see we may be paying again for months for another fight that is not ours to fight, will it be another Afganistan on our doorstep? Immigration will be another watershed we have to face, it will get worse as time goes on; this is one thing we should help with, returning these people to their own homelands. We have 24 million out of work within the EU countries we don't need massive immigration and we can't afford them, and we certainly, if we speak the truth, don't want them. Yes our forces are over worked, stretched to the limit, they do what we ask of them bravely and well, it's not their fault its the inept politicians we are dealt that are to blame; but also our fault for electing them time and time again. Time for change.
a_display_name
2 minutes ago
Another fine mess Cameron and the rest of the trigger-happy government has got the taxpayer into. They never seem to learn. We should not have got involved in this daft conflict in the first place. No threat to Britain. It was clear months ago that this could involve spending £billions of our money on a protracted stalemate.
Now we need a PM with the courage to admit he was wrong and withdraw tout de suite - but I'm not holding my breath.
philipshahak
13 minutes ago
Recommended by 1 person
So Reichsmarschall Fuchs tells us that our brave lads in the air’s morale was low because “their fighting spirit was threatened by being overworked.”
Maybe their fighting spirit is threatened by being sick of slaughtering innocent Libyans.
Godfrey Tabona
15 minutes ago
The situation in Libya is serious enough to have warranted two UN Security Council Resolutions in 2011. A third may be necessary.
nicita
26 minutes ago
Recommended by 2 people
not months, years....
toby
39 minutes ago
Recommended by 6 people
"Although the Nato mission has been extended to continue until September the Defence Secretary suggested there was no guarantee that the Libyan government would have been toppled by then."
Did I miss something, the new mission is to topple the Libyan government? When did The Commons have to vote about it?
toby
50 minutes agoRecommended by
7 peoplehttp://www.lefigaro.fr/interna...
http://www.lefigaro.fr/interna...
May I remind that The Commons voted for "a non fly zone" ONLY.
It is absolutely outrageous!
In passing, how much this "campaign" is costing the tax payer who was not consulted about it??
joelbanks
Today 07:28 PM Recommended by 3 people
Pride comes before the fall.
Another_Pragmatist
Today 07:28 PM Recommended by 2 people
It's a good job their fighting spirit wasn't threatened by being overworked during the Battle of Britain. But maybe this generation is more 'fragile' than earlier ones.
confused
Today 07:26 PM Recommended by 5 people
'In a briefing paper delivered to senior politicians he said morale among
airmen was "fragile" and their fighting spirit was threatened by being
overworked.'
I find the statement very difficult to believe, particularly as our military have no real opposition in the air from Gadaffi's Air Force, an entity that was comprehensively swept from the skies by the Americans. I would like to know what the Air Chief Marshall's definition of overworked is, I doubt that it compares to the bomber crews in WWII.
bogbeagle
50 minutes ago Recommended by 7 people
Quite so.
When "fighting" involves the murder of innocents, from the air.
There is no opposition and the people being bombed have committed no crimes.
Ergo, British Forces are engaged in genocide.
lordbarnett
Today 06:54 PM Recommended by 6 people
Translation, It could cost us a billion or it could cost fifteen billion.
ryeatley Today 06:42 PM Recommended by 13 people
Fox is off his rocker, and should stop this action and encourage talks. Now.
mpjones
Today 07:24 PM Recommended by 6 people
Yes, this madness must be stopped. NATO has no mandate justifying the current carrying-ons. The war generates yet another unaffordable muslim invasion of Europe - but perhaps that is the real purpose?
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Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào về bài viết "Libya campaign duration cannot be predicted, Liam Fox warns" và ý kiến phê binh từ "14 comments" của độc giả ?
Có thực sự "This was Cameron's mistake this war, as Iraq was Blairs mistake,.." như độc giả có nick barbarafrances chia sẻ không ?
Độc giả có nick toby có đề cập tới "The Commons voted for "a non fly zone" ONLY.", các anh chị thấy thế nào ?
Và các anh chị nghĩ gì qua sự chia sẻ của độc giả có nick mpjones nghĩ rằng "The war generates yet another unaffordable muslim invasion of Europe - but perhaps that is the real purpose?" ???
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