Atlantic Council blogs

Libya Op run from hi-tech NATO command center in Italy

By Sloboda Lekic, the AP

From Sloboda Lekic, the AP:  Canadian Gen. Charles Bouchard will be in charge of both the air campaign and the naval task force implementing an arms embargo, a NATO official said.

Libya Soundbites: Head of the French military, Adm. Gortney, former SACEUR, etc.

By Reuters

From Reuters:  France said the war could drag on for weeks. "I doubt that it will be days," Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the head of French armed forces, told France Info radio. "I think it will be weeks. I hope it will not take months."

Sarkozy reignites row over NATO military role in Libya

By Ian Traynor, the Guardian

From Ian Traynor, the Guardian:  Nicolas Sarkozy has belittled Nato’s role in the military operations against Muammar Gaddafi, re-igniting the row over who replaces the Americans in charge of the campaign in Libya. … The Nato decision is expected by Monday, before foreign ministers meet in London on Tuesday to discuss Libya. Senior officials were […]

Is it smart to be friends with NATO?

By Aigerim Shilibekova,atlantic-community.org

From Aigerim Shilibekova,atlantic-community.org:  This context leads to valid assumptions that Kazakhstan’s relations with NATO will be determined in the context of the NATO + Russia scheme. Moreover, it will remain as one of the major cornerstones in Russia’s relations with NATO, though Russia announced her support to the ISAF and even allowed to use her […]

Oh, Canada

By James Joyner

Minutes after the announcement that a Canadian General will be commander of yet to be fully defined NATO operations in Libya, we learned that Stephen Harper’s government has fallen after a no-confidence vote.

Unify NATO’s Libya Operation

By Damon Wilson, the New Atlanticist

From Damon Wilson, the New Atlanticist:  Fighting effectively requires fighting coherently under a unified chain of command.  In Libya, this means NATO exercising effective command and control of the coalition operations.

The Wrong German Foreign Policy

By Joschka Fischer, Social Europe

From Joschka Fischer, Social Europe: [N]ever has Germany been more isolated.

Canadian General in command of the “yet to be fully defined NATO operations” over Libya

By the AP

From the AP:  A Canadian general will take over command of the NATO mission in Libya.

Franco-Turkish dispute may be personal

By Ian Traynor and Nicholas Watt, the Guardian

US expects more from its partners

By Philip Stevens, the Financial Times

From Philip Stevens, the Financial Times:  Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron put themselves in the vanguard of diplomacy to stop Libya’s Muammer Gaddafi. When Mr [Barack] Obama eventually consented, he attached a condition: you want it, you can own it.