八年“越戰”、八年“伊戰”，再來八年“利戰”？

八年“越戰”、八年“伊戰”，再來八年“利戰”？

八年“戰事”是一個什麽樣的一個概念？

中國抵禦日本鬼子的無恥侵略，曆經八年（1938 – 1945），艱苦“抗戰”，雖說勝利，卻落得國窮山河敗，家破人亡，大傷元氣。

美國打了多於八年報的“越戰”，（1965 – 1973，從陸地入侵至簽署停戰協議），其結果眾所周知，為美國人民造成的創傷，至今都似乎未能愈合。

風湧雲起，美國又卷入毫無建樹的伊拉克戰爭（2003 – 2010），勞民傷財，醜聞不斷，為蕭條的美國經濟更是雪上加霜，導致痛失民意的共和黨政府拱手交權。

現總統奧巴瑪在即將到來的大選麵前，或許有前人的教訓，對當前美國卷入的利比亞戰事，就顯得小心謹慎多了。在其04/21/2011 的決策中，繼續堅持不介入地麵部隊的政策（http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110421/ap_on_re_us/us_us_libya），仍擬提供有限的空中支援。即便是這樣，也早已遭到民眾的質疑，這每天高達 5500 萬美圓的開銷，值還是不值？即便是搬倒卡紮菲，是不是就為利比亞帶來和平、民主、自由？前車有伊拉克戰爭之鑒，幾天就打倒候賽因。八年已經過去，伊拉克民主自由仍搖搖無期，老百姓的日子，過得比戰前還艱辛。換言之，指望用戰爭手段立馬就會帶來的民主、自由，是無稽之談。

記得“利戰”伊始，總統奧巴瑪就聲稱卡紮菲的日子是以天記數了，不是以月以周。現在看來，以當前的戰鬥狀況，就是以年記數卡紮菲的日子也不覺為奇。叛軍就像是烏合之眾，連消息通四海的【新聞周刊】也不得不承認，不知叛軍是些什麽人？昨天還在阿富汗與美軍作戰的“恐怖份子”，今天已是叛軍的中堅。今後這到底是誰打誰？

無論怎樣，將美國繼續卷入另一個“八年”的戰事是絕對不明智的。可叛軍也不怎麽中用，離了美聯軍的火力支援，就潰不成軍。幹脆，總統奧巴瑪這次就做一回摔手大哥，把重擔交給火辣火爆的法國老弟，讓老弟們也感受一下做“民運領袖”的殊榮。

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.