NATO's role in the attack on Gaddafi's convoy

(BRUSSELS2) The Alliance has in its daily bulletin confirmed in detail that it attacked a convoy of many vehicles, heavily armed, but denied that it knew that Gaddafi was on board at the time.

A first strike disperses the convoy

Thursday, at approximately 8:30 a.m. local time, un NATO plane hit 11 armed military vehicles which were part of a larger group of around 75 vehicles in the vicinity of Sirte” thus specifies the Alliance in its daily press release of this day. " These vehicles were leaving Sirte at high speed and attempted to force their way around the outskirts of the city. The vehicles had a large amount of arms and ammunition on board; which poses a significant threat to the local civilian population. NATO planes then intervened and targeted a first vehicle, the first in the column was destroyed. What is inevitable followed. That " disrupted the convoy and caused the dispersion of the other vehicles which changed direction”. After this first strike, a group of about 20 vehicles continued at high speed to advance south, west of Sirte, continuing to pose a significant threat ».

A second strike immobilizes him

NATO then carried out a second strike to destroy or damage a dozen pro-Gaddafi vehicles (which the assessment conducted by NATO revealed later). " At the time of the intervention, NATO did not know that Gaddafi was in the convoy “says one at the headquarters of the Alliance. And “NATO's intervention was conducted solely to reduce the threat to the civilian population, as required by the UN mandate. In general, NATO does not target individuals. »

CNT fighters to take over

NATO declined to indicate the nationality of the planes that carried out the raid. But it's an open secret. A French plane as confirmed yesterday by the Minister of Defense, Gérard Longuet. The rest of the story is told by Gérard Longuet. The dictator's convoy, of several dozen vehicles (...) was stopped in its progress as it sought to flee Sirte but was not destroyed by the French intervention ". CNT fighters then intervened and “ Released Colonel Gaddafi from his car.

Although NATO clears itself of having known that Gaddafi was in the convoy, one can doubt this "innocence". Gaddafi and his clan were if not a target, at least an objective sought by the CNT forces and the international forces because they had committed crimes against civilians and constituted a permanent threat against them. A convoy of such heavily armed vehicles fleeing Sirte could not belong to a few "ordinary" civilians. The sources who directed the NATO planes to the target - whether from the CNT or from the coalition states on the spot - knew this full well.

Moreover, the NATO - CNT coordination - even if it is not official and passes through the national forces of the member states of the operation and not the NATO command - is very real today. It has indeed been significantly improved since the "small" mess at the start of the operation. And this cooperation has been effective and useful on more than one occasion, in particular for guiding bombardments or assaults during the liberation of towns.

Putting an end to the Gaddafi regime was a necessity for the Libyans but also for the coalition which did not wish to see this conflict drag on for budgetary, political and international reasons. "Libyan normalization" is more necessary than today to stabilize the entire area between the Maghreb, Africa and the Middle East.