NATO’s “Operation Unified Protector”: More than 15,000 sorties directed against the Libyan People

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, July 14, 2011
14 July 2011
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The size of this military operation under a UN sponsored “humanitarian mandate” is mind boggling.

NATO’s stated objective is to save lives:  “The aim of Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR is to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under attack or threat of attack.”

In a bitter irony, Western public opinion is broadly supportive of this humanitarian endeavor which is carried out under the principle “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P). Each of the strike sorties results in countless deaths and injuries of civilians. The media has largely obfuscated the causes and consequences of this war.

According to NATO’s most recent release (July 14, 2011),

A total of 15,061 sorties, including 5,673 strike sorties, have been conducted since the beginning of the NATO operation (31 March 2011, 06.00GMT)

The text of the release is indicated in ANNEX below.

ANNEX

http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_07/20110714_110714-oup-update.pdf

14 July. Allied Joint Force Command NAPLES, SHAPE, NATO HQ

(more information: www.jfcnaples.nato.int

Mission

NATO took control of all military operations for Libya under United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970 & 1973 on 31 March 2011. The aim of Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR is to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under attack or threat of attack.

The mission consists of three elements: an arms embargo, a no-fly-zone and actions to protect civilians from attack or the threat of attack.

Over the past 24 hours, NATO has conducted the following activities associated with Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR:

Air Operations

Since the beginning of the NATO operation (31 March 2011, 06.00GMT) a total of 15,061 sorties, including  5,673 strike sorties*, have been conducted.

Sorties conducted 13 JULY: 130

Strike sorties conducted 13 JULY: 50

*Strike sorties are intended to identify and engage

The original source of this article is Global Research
Copyright © Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2011

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Articles by: Prof Michel Chossudovsky

About the author:

Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research. He has taught as visiting professor in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. He has served as economic adviser to governments of developing countries and has acted as a consultant for several international organizations. He is the author of 13 books. He is a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages. In 2014, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit of the Republic of Serbia for his writings on NATO's war of aggression against Yugoslavia. He can be reached at [email protected]

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