War – what is it good for – absolutely nothing

Updated with Tuesday’s strikes – another 19.

Another 16 strike missions 1 September

Another 13 strikes 3 September. Talking to Sky 4th September, Uk Defence Secretary Liam Fox confirms night strikes last night – we saw how that went in Zlitan. The justification for these strikes, according to Liam Fox, is to prevent a counter-attack.

Further strikes on Sirte:
5th September 12
6 September 20
7 September 7 (The focus appears to be on anti-aircraft defences around Waddan which it seems loyalist forces still have in place)

Further strikes on Sirte:
8th September 3
9th September 3
10th September 5
11th September 13
12th September 17
13th September 9
14th September 8
15th September 16
16th September 20
That is another 94 “key hits”

More key strikes:

September 26th 2
September 27th 1
September 28th 6
September 29th 2
October 1st 9
October 2nd 2
October 7th 1
October 12th 2
October 20th – 11
(Another 36 in total)

NATO statement about the strikes on the 20th which led to the capture and killing of Muammar Gaddafi:

NAPLES – Now that NATO has had the opportunity to conduct a post strike assessment of yesterday’s strike, we are able to provide a more comprehensive picture of events.

At approximately 08h30 local time (GMT+2) on Thursday 20 October 2011, NATO aircraft struck 11 pro-Qadhafi military vehicles which were part of a larger group of approximately 75 vehicles manoeuvring in the vicinity of Sirte. These armed vehicles were leaving Sirte at high speed and were attempting to force their way around the outskirts of the city. The vehicles were carrying a substantial amount of weapons and ammunition posing a significant threat to the local civilian population.

The convoy was engaged by a NATO aircraft to reduce the threat. Initially, only one vehicle was destroyed, which disrupted the convoy and resulted in many vehicles dispersing and changing direction.

After the disruption, a group of approximately 20 vehicles continued at great speed to proceed in a southerly direction, due west of Sirte, and continuing to pose a significant threat. NATO engaged these vehicles with another air asset. The post strike assessment revealed that approximately 10 pro-Qadhafi vehicles were destroyed or damaged.

At the time of the strike, NATO did not know that Qadhafi was in the convoy. NATO’s intervention was conducted solely to reduce the threat towards the civilian population, as required to do under our UN mandate. As a matter of policy, NATO does not target individuals.

We later learned from open sources and Allied intelligence that Qadhafi was in the convoy and that the strike likely contributed to his capture.

NATO does not divulge specific information on national assets involved in operations.