Breitbart: Italy may be preparing for military action in Libya following reports that the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL) may use the coastal North African country to stage attacks.
“The Italian Navy is resuming exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, including near the coast of Libya, amid concerns about rapidly deteriorating security in the North African nation,” reports The Associated Press (AP).
“Italy will begin annual naval exercises this week near the coast of Libya, where a breakdown in order has allowed tens of thousands of migrants to try to reach Europe by boat and increased fears of attacks by Islamist militants,” adds Reuters.
In a statement, the Italian Navy said it would begin its exercises, dubbed Mare Aperto (Open Sea), on Monday.
“At this point it is not yet clear whether this is just a training expedition but it would seem Italy may be preparing for a direct action in Libya,” notes The Malta Independent, citing the Italian media. more
The Polish forces will be joining them.
Armored gondolas?
You sunk my migrant ship!
Glass bottomed . . .
At one time, the only thing keeping the cork in the djinn bottle around the entire Mediterranean was the US Navy. We used to keep at minimum, a carrier task force in the Med at all times. Carriers relieved each other on station on the other side of Gibraltar to make sure the handoff was seamless.
We have not had a carrier task group in the Med since Obama took office, that being one of the first things he eliminated from the budget. That is also one of the reasons why the so-called Arab Spring ran out of control, why the Russians got their first warm water naval port ever in Syria, why the Syrian civil war has dragged on for so long, why there was no military relief available during the Benghazi attacks, and so forth.
The Italian Navy is on their own trying to repel what amounts to an invasion because the US Navy is simply not there.