[Scimitar]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Please explain.

Sorry Dusty, for the off the cuff comment there.

The presidential findings establish a framework of legal authorities for covert action. They can authorize specific actions, such as arming the rebels, or establish authorities under which future actions might be taken after permissions are given to undertake them.
In other words, covert actions won't start until the president signs off again.
The Pentagon has begun drafting plans for arming the rebels if needed, sources told Fox News, but officials caution that no decision has been made because not enough is known yet about the rebels.

My take on the article is that the Big O is paving the way for arming the rebels if we need to. Is that really particularly surprising? The Pentagon is planning an option. That’s what the Pentagon does, my understanding is that we pretty much have a skeleton contingency plan for invading the Oval Office's private crapper as well as anything else under the sun.

I’m not particularly surprised and I don’t think anyone else is either (i.e. other world governments, or the Qaddafi Regime) that we’re thinking about it. Hell it's in line with the UN resolution parameters.

However plastering it all over the MSM so that the average non-moderate middle-eastern Muslim can read it is not particularly smart I think, they certainly won’t see it as just us planning an option that the UN wants. Afterall we are the all conquering great Satan etc.

Also whenever I see a leak of a “Secret document” IMHO it’s more often then not an intentional leak to send a political message somewhere to someone. I just can't imagine that the most powerful military in history can leak like a siv.

So I read this as the O sending that Nut Bag Q a message,

“Hey chief well get our hands dirty if ya really want us to, up to you son”

I don't think any government in the world let alone the Qaddafi regime was under any illusion that we weren't looking at options. But I agree having it in the papers is a poor decision from a mass PR point of view and most defiantly discussing CIA ops on the ground, that’s a different kettle of fish.

And as the article says something like this was always in the confines of the UN resolution, so…the Pentagons looking at it and the Os allowing them to. Big woop Fox news. But that's news for ya.

Hope that clears it up, thank's for the lane correction Dusty.

S