NATO Is Learning a Valuable Lesson on Going to War Without U.S. Help: They Can’t Handle It

NATO is discovering that they don’t have the political or military will to fight an air campaign over Libya without American assistance.

The headline in a German newspaper said it all: “NATO Fears War Without End.”

NATO members should have thought about that before securing a U.N. Security Council resolution, and before they started dropping bombs and firing cruise missiles at or on Libyan targets.

Here is the NATO/Arab League order of battle over Libya, according to globalsecurity.com:

Belgium—(6) F-16 fighters
Canada—(2) P3 Orion spy aircraft, (2) tankers, (6) F-18 fighters
Denmark—(4) F-16 fighters
France—(1) EF3 command & control aircraft, (6) tankers, (8) F3 fighters, (4) Mirage fighters
Greece—(4) F-16 fighters, (1) command & control aircraft
Italy—(4) Tornado fighters, (4) Typhoon Eurofighters
Netherlands—(1) tanker, (6) F-16 fighters
Norway—(6) F-16 fighters
Qatar—(1) C17 Heavy Transport, (2) Mirage fighters
Spain—(1) SAR bird, (1) tanker, (4) F-18 fighters
Sweden—(8) JAS-39C fighters, (1) command and control aircraft, (4) tankers
United Arab Emirates—(6) F-16 fighters, (6) Mirage fighters
United Kingdom—2 Air Wings with support aircraft, 10 Eurofighters, 4 Tornado aircraft 

By my count, that’s 86 fighters, or seven full squadrons of fighters to clear the skies of Libyan aircraft, and bomb targets.  That’s without the additional 33 fighters that the U.S. pulled off the flight line, which was a minority of the total fighter aircraft currently in use. 

There’s nothing wrong with the NATO and Arab League fighter numbers, except that the various governments don’t have the stomach for a prolonged campaign that the U.S. Air Force is already accustomed to.  And they’re unwilling to contribute more combat aircraft to the campaign, even though they’ve got PLENTY of late-model fighters.  France and Britain are encouraging NATO to contribute more aircraft.

Speaking of the Arab League, only two countries belonging to the AL (out of 22) are involved; the UAE has more combat aircraft involved (12) than all other countries, except France and Britain.

There was a HUGE lack of foresight in the planning of this U.N.-sanctioned debacle.  And the U.S. should not have been involved at all.  This is a NATO mess.

And now with France locking horns with the outgoing Ivory Coast government, the second such direct clash between the French military and Ivory Coast since 2004, the main driving force behind the NATO effort is engaged in three conflicts of its own: it has forces in Afghanistan, is engaged against Libya, and is now engaged in Ivory Coast.   France may not be able to withstand internal political pressure to stop their military campaigns.

It may fall to Britain to lead the alliance.

NATO really needs to rethink what it’s doing in Libya, what its goals are, and what it can accomplish with air power alone.

I think putting non-Arab troops on the ground in Libya would be a colossal mistake.  And putting American combat brigades in there isn’t an option, regardless of whether we close down shop in Iraq or Afghanistan first.

I think the U.S. should keep doing what it’s doing, and stay out of the NATO/Libyan fight.