八年“越战”、八年“伊战”，再来八年“利战”？

八年“越战”、八年“伊战”，再来八年“利战”？

八年“战事”是一个什么样的一个概念？

中国抵御日本鬼子的无耻侵略，历经八年（1938 – 1945），艰苦“抗战”，虽说胜利，却落得国穷山河败，家破人亡，大伤元气。

美国打了多于八年报的“越战”，（1965 – 1973，从陆地入侵至签署停战协议），其结果众所周知，为美国人民造成的创伤，至今都似乎未能愈合。

风涌云起，美国又卷入毫无建树的伊拉克战争（2003 – 2010），劳民伤财，丑闻不断，为萧条的美国经济更是雪上加霜，导致痛失民意的共和党政府拱手交权。

现总统奥巴玛在即将到来的大选面前，或许有前人的教训，对当前美国卷入的利比亚战事，就显得小心谨慎多了。在其04/21/2011 的决策中，继续坚持不介入地面部队的政策（http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110421/ap_on_re_us/us_us_libya），仍拟提供有限的空中支援。即便是这样，也早已遭到民众的质疑，这每天高达 5500 万美圆的开销，值还是不值？即便是搬倒卡扎菲，是不是就为利比亚带来和平、民主、自由？前车有伊拉克战争之鉴，几天就打倒候赛因。八年已经过去，伊拉克民主自由仍摇摇无期，老百姓的日子，过得比战前还艰辛。换言之，指望用战争手段立马就会带来的民主、自由，是无稽之谈。

记得“利战”伊始，总统奥巴玛就声称卡扎菲的日子是以天记数了，不是以月以周。现在看来，以当前的战斗状况，就是以年记数卡扎菲的日子也不觉为奇。叛军就像是乌合之众，连消息通四海的【新闻周刊】也不得不承认，不知叛军是些什么人？昨天还在阿富汗与美军作战的“恐怖份子”，今天已是叛军的中坚。今后这到底是谁打谁？

无论怎样，将美国继续卷入另一个“八年”的战事是绝对不明智的。可叛军也不怎么中用，离了美联军的火力支援，就溃不成军。干脆，总统奥巴玛这次就做一回摔手大哥，把重担交给火辣火爆的法国老弟，让老弟们也感受一下做“民运领袖”的殊荣。

Obama OKs use of armed drone aircraft in Libya

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed drones in Libya, authorizing U.S. airstrikes on ground forces for the first time since America turned over control of the operation to NATO on April 4.

It also is the first time that drones will be used for airstrikes since the conflict began on March 19, although they have routinely been flying surveillance missions, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Thursday.

He said the U.S. will provide up to two 24-hour combat air patrols each day by the unmanned Predators.

Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the drones can help counteract the pro-Gadhafi forces' tactic of traveling in civilian vehicles that make it difficult to distinguish them from rebel forces.

"What they will bring that is unique to the conflict is their ability to get down lower, therefore to be able to get better visibility on targets that have started to dig themselves into defensive positions," Cartwright said. "They are uniquely suited for urban areas."

He added, "It's very difficult to pick friend from foe. So a vehicle like the Predator that can get down lower and can get IDs better helps us."

Gates rejected the notion that the approval of drone strikes means that the U.S. will slowly get pulled back into a more active combat role, despite Obama's promise to merely provide support for NATO.

U.S. forces played a lead role in the early days of the conflict, launching an onslaught of cruise missiles and bombs on Gadhafi's surface-to-air missiles sites and advancing regime troops.

But with American forces stretched by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the humanitarian operations in Japan, the Pentagon turned the mission over to NATO, saying it would only do limited airstrikes to take out air defenses. The U.S., said Obama, would no longer do airstrikes to protect the civilian population.

Gates said that bringing in the Predators will give NATO a critical capability that the U.S. can uniquely contribute.

"I think this is a very limited additional role on our part, but it does provide some additional capabilities to NATO," said Gates. "And if we can make a modest contribution with these armed Predators, we'll do it. ... I don't think any of us sees that as mission creep."

He said Obama has been clear that there will be no U.S. boots on the ground and that the main strike role would belong to the allies.

The first Predator mission since Obama's go-ahead was flown Thursday but the aircraft — armed with Hellfire missiles — turned back due to poor weather conditions without firing any of its munitions, Cartwright said.

Gates, who publicly expressed skepticism about getting involved militarily in Libya before Obama endorsed the limited intervention, said "the real work" of overthrowing Moammar Gadhafi will have to be done by the Libyans themselves.

While he acknowledged the conflict "is likely to take a while," Gates also said the ongoing sanctions, arms embargo and NATO-led offensive have weakened Gadhafi's military and eaten away at his supplies and cash. Over the long term, Gates said, that will hurt the regime's ability to strike back at oppositions forces, if they rise up again in other cities.

At the same time, however, Gates said the administration's decision to provide $25 million in nonlethal military assistance to the rebels did not signal a deeper U.S. commitment to anti-Gadhafi forces whose makeup, objectives and motives are still not fully understood in Washington.

The aid, he said, is not high-end military equipment but rather a hodge-podge of things like uniforms and canteens.

"I'm not worried about our canteen technology falling into the wrong hands," he joked.

Asked how long he believes it will take the NATO-led air campaign to succeed, Gates replied, "The honest answer to that is, nobody knows."

In other comments, Gates did not rule out major military program cuts to meet Obama's goal to slash another $400 billion from the country's national security spending over the next 12 years. But he laid out some programs he believes are vital, including the new Air Force refueling tanker and the replacement of some Navy ships.

"The worst of all possible worlds, in my view, is to give the entire Department of Defense a haircut — basically (saying) everybody is going to cut X percent," Gates said, adding that he's had one meeting with staff on the issue.

Instead, he said the Pentagon must lay out options and the risks involved if particular cuts are made and how they would affect military missions.

He added that he does not know how much of the cut the Pentagon will be expected to take.