Author: James Holbrooks

On Wednesday, it was reported that Libyan militia groups supportive of the GNA, the Government of National Accord – the interim government installed by the United Nations – had, with the help of the United States via airstrikes that began August 1, retaken the northern city of Sirte.

“Pro-government Libyan militias backed by American airpower,”wrote the New York Times, “said Wednesday that they had seized the Islamic State’s last stronghold in the country, in the seaside city of Surt.”

The Times went on to say that “If confirmed, the capture would be a severe blow to the militant organization’s expansion into North Africa, and extend the string of territorial retreats it has suffered this year in Syria and Iraq.”

Last Monday, the Pentagon announced that the U.S., at the request of the GNA, had begun a campaign of precision airstrikes targeting ISIS fighters in Libya. The strikes, according to Press Secretary Peter Cook, were approved by President Obama in order “to enable the GNA to make a decisive, strategic advance” in the chaos that is Libya since the US intervention in 2011.

Continue reading “US Admits Boots on the Ground in Libya, But Will This Be Gaddafi 2.0?”

Last Monday, the Department of Defense held a press conference in which Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook disclosed to reporters that the United States military – at the request of the officially recognized governing body of Libya, the Government of National Accord (GNA) – has begun a campaign of precision airstrikes on ISIL targets inside the northern city of Sirte.

“GNA-aligned forces have had success in recapturing territory from ISIL thus far around Sirte,” Cook stated at the briefing, “and additional U.S. strikes will continue to target ISIL in Sirte in order to enable to GNA to make a decisive, strategic advance.”

The GNA is the interim government created by the U.N. and installed back in March in an effort to combat the instability, infighting – both political and military – and all-around chaos that have engulfed Libya in the years following the US intervention in 2011.

Continue reading “Is This the Real Reason the United States Is Suddenly Bombing Libya?”