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69-702: Opération Harmattan was the French participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya . It was named for the Harmattan , which are hot dry winds that blow over the Sahara, mostly between November and March. The United States ' counterpart to this was Operation Odyssey Dawn , the Canadian counterpart was Operation Mobile and the British counterpart was Operation Ellamy . The no-fly zone

138-582: A Gallup poll conducted in March and April 2012, a survey involving 1,000 Libyans showed 75% of Libyans were in favor of the NATO intervention, compared to 22% who were opposed. A post-war Orb International poll involving 1,249 Libyans found broad support for the intervention, with 85% of Libyans saying that they strongly supported the action taken to remove the Ghadafi regime. The military intervention in Libya has been cited by

207-545: A March 2011 Gallup poll, 47% of Americans had approved of military action against Libya, compared with 37% disapproval. On 10 June, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates criticized some of the NATO member nations for their efforts, or lack thereof, to participate in the intervention in Libya. Gates singled out Germany, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands for criticism. He praised Canada, Norway, and Denmark, saying that although those three countries had only provided 12% of

276-410: A NATO strike on Libyan State TV, Al-Jamahiriya , that killed 3 journalists and wounded others. Bokova declared that media outlets should not be the target of military activities. On 11 August, after the NATO airstrike on Majer (on 9 August) that allegedly killed 85 civilians, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all sides to do as much as possible to avoid killing innocent people. According to

345-495: A ban on all flights in the country's airspace — a no-fly zone — and tightened sanctions on the Muammar Gaddafi regime and its supporters." American and British naval forces fired over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles , and imposed a naval blockade . The French Air Force , British Royal Air Force , and Royal Canadian Air Force undertook sorties across Libya. The intervention did not employ foreign ground troops , with

414-487: A large influence on the uprising, which was largely ignored by the West to the future detriment of Libya. The American Libertarian Party opposed the U.S. military intervention. Former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader branded President Obama as a "war criminal" and called for his impeachment . Some critics of Western military intervention suggested that resources—not democratic or humanitarian concerns—were

483-506: A massacre in Benghazi . However, journalist S.Awan argued that the subsequent airstrikes "destroyed a very small convoy of government vehicles, including ambulances." Furthermore, Professor Alan J. Kuperman argued against the idea of an imminent massacre in Benghazi, arguing that in captured cities such as Zawiya , Misurata and Ajdabiya no massacre had occurred, so Kuperman believed that there

552-950: A military depot 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Tripoli. A joint strike force of Air Force Rafales and Mirage 2000Ds and Navy Rafales and Super Etendards attacked anti-aircraft missile sites 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Sirte. A patrol of two French and four Qatari Mirage 2000-5s conducted air interdiction sorties. At 0600 GMT, NATO took command of all operations in Libya. Subsequent operations were conducted as part of Operation Unified Protector . 2011 military intervention in Libya NATO Coalition/ Anti-Gaddafi victory [REDACTED]   NATO [REDACTED]   Jordan [REDACTED]   Qatar [REDACTED]   Sweden [REDACTED]   United Arab Emirates [REDACTED]   Libyan Arab Jamahiriya [REDACTED] 5,900 Military targets   [REDACTED] On 19 March 2011,

621-582: A military expedition without Congressional backing. House Democrats were split on the issue, with 115 voting in favor of and 70 voting against. Despite the failure of the President to receive legal authorization from Congress, the Obama administration continued its military campaign, carrying out the bulk of NATO's operations until the overthrow of Gaddafi in October. On 9 August, the head of UNESCO , Irina Bokova deplored

690-647: A multi-state NATO -led coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (UNSCR 1973), in response to events during the First Libyan Civil War . With ten votes in favour and five abstentions, the intent of the UN Security Council was to have "an immediate ceasefire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians, which it said might constitute 'crimes against humanity' ... [imposing]

759-426: A naval base. They also built the town of Souda at the head of the bay, as the new port of the nearby city of Chania . The fortress at Kalami is still in use as prisons. The naval base was officially inaugurated in 1872, in the presence of Sultan Abdul Aziz . In the period of the semi-independent Cretan State the area attracted international interest, as it offered port facilities to foreign naval vessels enforcing

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828-481: A popular uprising because Gaddafi was loved by his people, as I was able to see when I went to Libya." Despite its stated opposition to NATO intervention, Russia abstained from voting on Resolution 1973 instead of exercising its veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council ; four other powerful nations also abstained from the vote— India , China, Germany, and Brazil —but of that group only China has

897-517: A portion of the first millennium BC Kydonia held influence over Aptera. The Venetians occupied the area in 1207. In 1571 an Ottoman military force landed at Souda and caused major destruction in the Chania area. The Venetians fortified Souda Island between 1570 and 1573, in order to protect the area from Ottoman raiders and pirates. However, Souda Bay remained a pirate infested area during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The Venetians managed to hold on to

966-525: A report titled Libya: Examination of intervention and collapse and the UK's future policy options . The Foreign Affairs Select Committee saw no evidence that the UK Government carried out a proper analysis of the nature of the rebellion in Libya and it "selectively took elements of Muammar Gaddafi's rhetoric at face value; and it failed to identify the militant Islamist extremist element in the rebellion. UK strategy

1035-466: A widespread wave of criticism from several world leaders, including: Iran 's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei (who said he supported the rebels but not Western intervention ), Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (who referred to Gaddafi as a " martyr " ), South African President Jacob Zuma , and President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe (who referred to the Western nations as "vampires" ), as well as

1104-557: Is Souda Island , giving its name to the bay. Souda Bay is now a popular tourist destination although there are no formal public beaches designed in the area, due to the presence of the Crete Naval Base , a major naval installation of the Hellenic Navy and NATO in the eastern Mediterranean . Villages such as Megala Chorafia and Kalives afford fine views of the bay, and house-building, particularly for foreigners and tourist companies,

1173-515: Is defective and flawed...It allows everything. It resembles medieval calls for crusades." President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China said, "Dialogue and other peaceful means are the ultimate solutions to problems," and added, "If military action brings disaster to civilians and causes a humanitarian crisis, then it runs counter to the purpose of the UN resolution." Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

1242-510: Is spreading along the bay. There have been port facilities on the bay since ancient times, previously serving the city of Aptera . Aptera was founded in the 7th century BC and was an important city during the ancient and early Byzantine periods. It was destroyed by the Saracens in the 820s AD. The nearest large ancient city was Kydonia , which flourished in the Minoan era on Crete; moreover, during

1311-627: The Arab Organization for Human Rights , Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and the International Legal Assistance Consortium published a report describing alleged human rights violations and accusing NATO of war crimes. On 3 June 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution, calling for a withdrawal of the United States military from the air and naval operations in and around Libya. It demanded that

1380-456: The Council on Foreign Relations as an example of the responsibility to protect policy adopted by the UN at the 2005 World Summit . According to Gareth Evans , "[t]he international military intervention (SMH) in Libya is not about bombing for democracy or Muammar Gaddafi's head. Legally, morally, politically, and militarily it has only one justification: protecting the country's people." However,

1449-532: The Libyan Civil War . Initial NATO planning for a possible no-fly zone took place in late February and early March, especially by NATO members France and the United Kingdom. France and the UK were early supporters of a no-fly zone and had sufficient airpower to impose a no-fly zone over the rebel-held areas, although they might need additional assistance for a more extensive exclusion zone. The US had

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1518-713: The NATO Maritime Interidiction Operational Training Centre ; the Hellenic Air Force 's Souda Air Base on Akrotiri Peninsula, base of the 115th Combat Wing ; and the NATO Missile Firing Installation . During Turkish rule an Ottoman post office operated in Souda. Evidence (mailed covers) indicate that this post office was open throughout the 1890s. The Cretan State post office opened officially on 1 March 1912, although

1587-579: The Royal United Services Institute similarly suggested that a single cruise missile would cost about £500,000, while a single Tornado sortie would cost about £30,000 in fuel alone. If a Tornado was downed the replacement cost would be upwards of £50m. By 22 March the US and UK had already fired more than 110 cruise missiles. UK Chancellor George Osborne had said that the MoD estimate of the operation cost

1656-661: The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to defend the actions of the Obama administration under the War Powers Resolution . Koh was questioned by the Committee on the Obama administration's interpretation of the word "hostilities" under the War Powers Resolution § 4(a)(1) and 5(b). Koh reasoned that under the constitution, the term "hostilities" was left up for interpretation by the executive branch, and therefore

1725-511: The Cretan autonomy. The first High Commissioner, Prince George of Greece, disembarked at Souda Bay on December 9, 1898. The church of Saint Nicholas was built during this period. In 1913, events marking the union of Crete with Greece took place on Souda Island. On February 1 the metallic Ottoman flag, the last symbol of Ottoman rule, was removed and replaced by the Greek flag on May 1. Also the ruined chapel

1794-554: The German attack named " Operation Merkur ", Allied troops retreated from the Souda area to Sfakia in the south of the island. The Germans occupied the area until 1945. The Souda Bay Allied War Cemetery , the principal Allied war cemetery of the island, designed by architect Louis de Soissons, is located at Souda. Souda Bay is the location of three major military installations: the Hellenic Navy 's Crete Naval Station , which also houses

1863-587: The Mediterranean Sea, with SCALP EG missiles. Rafale, Mirage 2000D and Super Etendard aircraft flew four joint interdiction missions against Libyan ground forces. A Rafale destroyed a Libyan Soko G-2 Galeb light attack jet with an AASM air-to-surface missile as it landed at Misrata. A patrol of two Mirage 2000Ds, equipped with GBU-12 laser-guided bombs, attacked loyalist artillery near Ajdabiyah. Qatari aircraft attached to Operation Odyssey Dawn and French aircraft conducted joint reconnaissance sorties in

1932-554: The Obama administration with authorization to continue military operations in Libya for up to one year. The military intervention was criticized, both at the time and subsequently, on a variety of grounds. An in-depth investigation into the Libyan intervention and its aftermath was conducted by the UK Parliament's House of Commons ' cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee, the final conclusions of which were released on 14 September 2016 in

2001-404: The United Kingdom, with command shared with the United States. NATO took control of the arms embargo on 23 March, named Operation Unified Protector . An attempt to unify the military command of the air campaign (whilst keeping political and strategic control with a small group), first failed over objections by the French, German, and Turkish governments. On 24 March, NATO agreed to take control of

2070-560: The United States was responsible for 16%, Italy 10%, France 33%, Britain 21%, and Belgium, Qatar, and the UAE the remainder. Since the end of the war, which overthrew Gaddafi, there has been violence involving various militias and the new state security forces. The violence has escalated into the Second Libyan Civil War . Critics described the military intervention as "disastrous" and accused it of destabilizing North Africa, leading to

2139-586: The administration provide, within 14 days, an explanation of why the President Barack Obama did not come to Congress for permission to continue to take part in the mission. On 13 June, the House passed a resolution prohibiting the use of funds for operations in the conflict, with 110 Democrats and 138 Republicans voting in favor. Harold Koh , the State department's legal advisor, was called to testify in front of

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2208-485: The air assets necessary to enforce a no-fly zone, but was cautious about supporting such an action prior to obtaining a legal basis for violating Libya's sovereignty. Furthermore, due to the sensitive nature of military action by the US against an Arab nation, the US sought Arab participation in the enforcement of a no-fly zone. At a congressional hearing , United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates explained that "a no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy

2277-456: The air defences … and then you can fly planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that's the way it starts." On 19 March, the deployment of French fighter jets over Libya began, and other states began their individual operations. Phase One started the same day with the involvement of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Canada. On 24 March, NATO ambassadors agreed that NATO would take command of

2346-587: The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its battle group, sailed from Toulon . Up to this day, 55 sorties were carried out by French aircraft over Libya. The French Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed a Mirage 2000-D destroyed another Libyan tank 100 km south of Benghazi. Aircraft from Charles de Gaulle began operations over Libya, commencing with Rafale F3s conducting reconnaissance and patrols. Forbin and Jean Bart , which were already on station off Libya, joined Task Force 473. The number of combat aircraft forward deployed at Air Base 126 Solenzara

2415-545: The aircraft to the operation, their aircraft had conducted one-third of the strikes. On 24 June, the US House voted against Joint Resolution 68, which would have authorized continued US military involvement in the NATO campaign for up to one year. The majority of Republicans voted against the resolution, with some questioning US interests in Libya and others criticizing the White House for overstepping its authority by conducting

2484-466: The contrary were propagated by rebels and Western governments. Alison Pargeter , a freelance Middle East and North Africa ( MENA ) analyst, told the Committee that when Gaddafi's forces re-took Ajdabiya they did not attack civilians, and this had taken place in February 2011, shortly before the NATO intervention. She also said that Gaddafi's approach towards the rebels had been one of "appeasement", with

2553-541: The council also noted that the policy had been used only in Libya, and not in countries such as Côte d'Ivoire , undergoing a political crisis at the time, or in response to protests in Yemen . A CFR expert, Stewert Patrick, said that "There is bound to be selectivity and inconsistency in the application of the responsibility to protect norm given the complexity of national interests at stake in...the calculations of other major powers involved in these situations." In January 2012,

2622-516: The early stages of the war and propaganda from anti-government forces. Kuperman suggests that this demonization of Gaddafi, which was used to justify the intervention, ended up discouraging efforts to accept a ceasefire and negotiated settlement, turning a humanitarian intervention into a dedicated regime change. Moreover, criticisms have been made on the way the operation was led. According to Michael Kometer and Stephen E. Wright in Focus stratégique ,

2691-536: The end of the year, but on 27 October, the Security Council unanimously voted to end NATO's mandate for military action on 31 October. It is reported that over the eight months, NATO members carried out 7,000 bombing sorties targeting Gaddafi's forces. Both Libyan officials and international states and organizations called for a no-fly zone over Libya in light of allegations that Gaddafi's military had conducted airstrikes against Libyan rebels in

2760-502: The exception of special forces, which were not covered by the UN resolution. The Libyan government's response to the campaign was totally ineffectual, with Gaddafi's forces not managing to shoot down a single NATO plane, despite the country possessing 30 heavy SAM batteries, 17 medium SAM batteries, 55 light SAM batteries (a total of 400–450 launchers, including 130–150 2K12 Kub launchers and some 9K33 Osa launchers), and 440–600 short-ranged air-defense guns. The official names for

2829-537: The future NATO's operations that will probably face trust issues. On 22 March 2011, BBC News presented a breakdown of the likely costs to the UK of the mission. Journalist Francis Tusa, editor of Defence Analysis, estimated that flying a Tornado GR4 would cost about £ 35,000 an hour (c. US$ 48,000), so the cost of patrolling one sector of Libyan airspace would be £2M–3M (US$ 2.75M–4.13M) per day. Conventional airborne missiles would cost £800,000 each and Tomahawk cruise missiles £750,000 each. Professor Malcolm Charmers of

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2898-656: The governments of Raúl Castro in Cuba , Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Kim Jong-il in North Korea, Hifikepunye Pohamba in Namibia, Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, and others. Gaddafi himself referred to the intervention as a "colonial crusade … capable of unleashing a full-scale war", a sentiment that was echoed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin : "[ UNSC Resolution 1973 ]

2967-401: The ground. French and Qatari Mirage 2000-5s continued joint reconnaissance sorties from Souda Air Base. Air Force and Navy Rafales attacked a command centre south of Tripoli. French and Qatari Mirage 2000-5s conducted joint patrols and air interdiction missions from Souda Air Base. The number of French Mirage 2000-5s based as Souda was increased to four. Air operations were planned to focus on

3036-428: The interpretation fit the historical definition of that word. Koh argued that historically the term "hostilities" has previously been used to mean limited military action acting in support of a conflict, and the scope of this operation suits that interpretation. Ultimately the Committee still remained concerned by the actions of the President. On 24 June, the House rejected Joint Resolution 68, which would have provided

3105-499: The interventions by the coalition members are Opération Harmattan by France; Operation Ellamy by the United Kingdom; Operation Mobile for the Canadian participation and Operation Odyssey Dawn for the United States. Italy initially opposed the intervention but then offered to take part in the operations on the condition that NATO took the leadership of the mission instead of individual countries (particularly France). As this condition

3174-535: The military intervention in the form of a no-fly zone and the naval blockade was split between different national operations: These are the forces committed in alphabetical order: Since the start of the campaign, there have been allegations of violating the limits imposed upon the intervention by Resolution 1973 and by US law. At the end of May 2011, Western troops were captured on film in Libya, despite Resolution 1973 specifically forbidding "a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory". In

3243-455: The no-fly zone enforcement, while other military operations remained the responsibility of the group of states previously involved, with NATO expected to take control as early as 26 March. The decision was made after meetings of NATO members to resolve disagreements over whether military operations in Libya should include attacks on ground forces. The decision created a two-level power structure overseeing military operations. In charge politically

3312-474: The no-fly zone, while command of targeting ground units remained with coalition forces. The handover occurred on 31 March 2011 at 06:00 UTC (08:00 local time). NATO flew 26,500 sorties since it took charge of the Libya mission on 31 March 2011. Fighting in Libya ended in late October following the killing of Muammar Gaddafi , and NATO stated it would end operations over Libya on 31 October 2011. Libya's new government requested that its mission be extended to

3381-708: The operation commenced. The French Air Force deployed in its first strike force eight Rafale fighters, two Mirage 2000-5 fighters and two Mirage 2000D fighter-bombers supported by other aircraft listed above. Eight Rafale fighters patrolled the skies over Benghazi to prohibit the advance of Libyan ground forces. One opened fire on Libyan military vehicles at 16:45 local time. The Telegraph reported four Libyan tanks destroyed by French aircraft southwest of Benghazi. Aircraft returning from combat missions landed at Solenzara Air Base on Corsica from which further combat sorties were launched. Eleven sorties were carried out by French aircraft over Libya. Task Force 473,

3450-500: The operation involved more than 8,000 servicemen and women, 21 NATO ships in the Mediterranean and more than 250 aircraft of all types. By the end of the operation, NATO had conducted over 3,000 hailings at sea and almost 300 boardings for inspection, with 11 vessels denied transit to their next port of call. Eight NATO and two non-NATO countries flew strike sorties. Of these, Denmark, Canada, and Norway together were responsible for 31%,

3519-463: The outcome of the Libyan intervention was reached by default rather than by design. It appears that there was an important lack of consistent political guidance caused particularly by the vagueness of the UN mandate and the ambiguous consensus among the NATO-led coalition. This lack of clear political guidance was translated into an incoherent military planning on the operational level. Such a gap may impact

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3588-475: The real impetus for the intervention, among them a journalist of London Arab nationalist newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, the Russian TV network RT and the (then-)leaders of Venezuela and Zimbabwe, Hugo Chávez and Robert Mugabe. Gaddafi's Libya , despite its relatively small population, was known to possess vast resources, particularly in the form of oil reserves and financial capital . The intervention prompted

3657-532: The rebels by engaging in regime change. It argued that NATO's intervention likely extended the length (and thus damage) of the civil war, which Kuperman argued could have ended in less than two months without NATO intervention. The paper argued that the intervention was based on a misperception of the danger Gaddafi's forces posed to the civilian population, which Kuperman suggests was caused by existing bias against Gaddafi due to his past actions (such as support for terrorism), sloppy and sensationalistic journalism during

3726-619: The region around Zintan and Misrata. Air force Rafales and Mirage 2000Ds and a joint patrol of Navy Rafales and Super Etendards bombed an ammunition dump at Gharyan, 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Tripoli. Mirage F1CRs conducted reconnaissance missions for the first time in the operation. Two patrols of Air Force Rafales and Mirage 2000Ds and a patrol of Navy Rafales and Super Etendards attacked anti-aircraft missile sites 100 kilometres (62 mi) south west of Tripoli. Two joint patrols of French and Qatari Mirage 2000-5s conducted air interdiction sorties. Mirage 2000Ds and Super Etendards bombed

3795-480: The regions of Misrata, Zintan, Sirte and Ajdabiyah. Four Mirage 2000Ds conducted interdiction missions against loyalist artillery near Ajdabiyah. Two French and two Qatari Mirage 2000-5s conducted air interdiction missions. Three French Mirage 2000-5s were moved from Solenzara to Souda Air Base on Crete . French aircraft carried out several air strikes around Zintan and Misrata, destroying at least five Soko G-2 Galeb light attack jets and two Mi-35 helicopters on

3864-457: The release of Islamist prisoners and promises of significant development assistance for Benghazi. However, evidence which was collected during the intervention suggested otherwise, showing things such as shooting deaths of hundreds of protestors, reports of mass rapes by Libyan Armed Forces and orders from Gaddafi's senior generals to bombard and starve the people of Misrata . In his March 28 address, Barack Obama warned of an imminent risk of

3933-428: The rise of Islamic extremist groups in the region. Libya became what many scholars described as a failed state — a state that has disintegrated to a point where the government no longer performs its function properly. Libya has become the main exit for migrants trying to get to Europe . In September 2015, South African President Jacob Zuma said that "consistent and systematic bombing by NATO forces undermined

4002-421: The same veto power. Micah Zenko argues that the Obama administration deceived the public by pretending the intervention was intended to protect Libyan civilians instead of achieving regime change when "in truth, the Libyan intervention was about regime change from the very start". A 2013 paper by Alan Kuperman argued that NATO went beyond its remit of providing protection for civilians and instead supported

4071-450: The security and caused conflicts that are continuing in Libya and neighbouring countries ... It was the actions taken, the bombarding of Libya and killing of its leader, that opened the flood gates." Souda Bay#Souda Air Base Near the mouth of Souda bay, between the Akrotiri and the town of Kalives , there is a group of small islands with Venetian fortifications. The largest island

4140-733: The strategic islands within Souda Bay until 1715, over thirty years after the fall of Crete to the Ottomans . In 1822 an Egyptian army of approximately 10,000 under Hassan Pasha landed at Souda to defeat the Cretan Revolution of 1821. After the Cretan Revolution of 1866–69 , the Ottomans built fortresses at Aptera ( Aptera Fortress ) and Kalami ( Izzeddin Fortress ), barracks, a military hospital and

4209-458: Was "tens rather than hundreds of millions". On 4 April Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton said that the RAF was planning to continue operations over Libya for at least six months. The total number of sorties flown by NATO numbered more than 26,000, an average of 120 sorties per day. 42% of the sorties were strike sorties, which damaged or destroyed approximately 6,000 military targets. At its peak,

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4278-475: Was a committee, led by NATO, that included all states participating in enforcing the no-fly zone, while NATO alone was responsible for military action. Royal Canadian Air Force Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard has been appointed to command the NATO military mission. After the death of Muammar Gaddafi on 20 October 2011, it was announced that the NATO mission would end on 31 October. Before NATO took full command of operations at 06:00 GMT on 31 March 2011,

4347-498: Was critical of the intervention as well, rebuking the coalition in a speech at the UN in September 2011. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , despite the substantial role his country played in the NATO mission, also spoke out against getting involved: "I had my hands tied by the vote of the parliament of my country. But I was against and I am against this intervention which will end in a way that no-one knows" and added, "This wasn't

4416-506: Was founded on erroneous assumptions and an incomplete understanding of the evidence". The report was strongly critical of the British government's role in the intervention. The report concluded that the government "failed to identify that the threat to civilians was overstated and that the rebels included a significant Islamist element." In particular, the committee concluded that Gaddafi was not planning to massacre civilians, and that reports to

4485-478: Was increased to 20 with the arrival of two more Mirage 2000-5 and two more Mirage 2000D, with support aircraft operating out of Saint-Dizier and Avord. Rafale and Mirage 2000D aircraft from Solenzara and Rafale and Super Etendard aircraft from the Charles de Gaulle conducted reconnaissance and support sorties over Libya. Rafale and Mirage 2000D aircraft attacked a Libyan air base, 250 kilometres (160 miles) inland from

4554-412: Was later met, Italy shared its bases and intelligence with the allies. From the beginning of the intervention, the initial coalition of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Qatar, Spain, UK and US expanded to nineteen states, with newer states mostly enforcing the no-fly zone and naval blockade or providing military logistical assistance. The effort was initially largely led by France and

4623-793: Was little reason to think Benghazi would be any different. While there were civilian casualties, he argued that there was no effort to target civilian concentrations, with Libya's air force primarily targeting rebel positions. According to the report, France's motive for initiating the intervention was economic and political as well as humanitarian. In a briefing to Hillary Clinton on 2 April 2011, her adviser Sidney Blumenthal reported that, according to high-level French intelligence, France's motives for overthrowing Gaddafi were to increase France's share of Libya's oil production, strengthen French influence in Africa, and improve President Sarkozy's standing at home. The report also highlighted how Islamic extremists had

4692-597: Was proposed during the Libyan Civil War to prevent government forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi from carrying out air attacks on anti-Gaddafi forces . Several countries prepared to take immediate military action at a conference in Paris on 19 March 2011. French Dassault Rafale multirole fighters began reconnaissance missions on 19 March and were the first among the coalition to attack Libyan forces, destroying four tanks. The French Navy anti-air destroyer Forbin and anti-air frigate Jean Bart were already off Libya when

4761-608: Was rebuilt and dedicated to Saint George. In 1916 the British liner SS Minnewaska , requisitioned by the British Army as a troops carrier, struck a mine and was beached at Souda Bay. After 1923 the area was used as a Hellenic Army base, housing the artillery units of 5th Infantry Division . During World War II British and Commonwealth troops withdrew from mainland Greece in April 1941 and 25,000 men, mainly from New Zealand and Australia, disembarked at Souda Bay. In May 1941, during

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