UK Army Chief Presses for Escalation of Libya War

While praising the last two months of bombing as a “significant success for NATO,” British army chief General Sir David Richards called on the alliance to “up the ante” with attacks on the nation’s infrastructure.

Currently NATO’s official policy only allows them to attack military targets, and the alliance has insisted that it is sticking to that despite several bombings which destroyed, among other things, the residence of one of Moammar Gadhafi’s sons and a Brega guest house where 11 imams were staying.

Sir David argued that the war is in a stalemate and that there was a real risk of Gadhafi retaining power in western Libya without the attacks on infrastructure. He admitted that the escalation would be “controversial.”

The warnings of stalemate in the war have been made virtually since the war started, and repeated escalations of the campaign have done nothing to change the situation on the ground. Few cities are being contested anymore, and the regime has already conceded that it will not be able to retake East Libya militarily.