Book contents
- Air Power in the Age of Primacy
- Air Power in the Age of Primacy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Air Power in the Age of Primacy
- 2 Remote Warfare: A New Architecture of Air Power
- 3 Deliberate Force: Ambivalent Success
- 4 Hoping for Victory: Coercive Air Power and NATO’s Strategy in Kosovo
- 5 Operation Enduring Freedom
- 6 The Result Is Never Final: Operation Iraqi Freedom
- 7 Israeli Air Force Effectiveness during the Second Lebanon War (2006)
- 8 Libya 2011: Hollow Victory in Low-Cost Air War
- 9 Coercing a Chaos State: The Saudi-Led Air War in Yemen
- 10 Russia’s Air War Win in Syria
- 11 Air Power in the Battle of Mosul
- 12 Retrospect and Prospect: Air Power in the Age of Primacy and Beyond
- Index
8 - Libya 2011: Hollow Victory in Low-Cost Air War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 December 2021
- Air Power in the Age of Primacy
- Air Power in the Age of Primacy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Air Power in the Age of Primacy
- 2 Remote Warfare: A New Architecture of Air Power
- 3 Deliberate Force: Ambivalent Success
- 4 Hoping for Victory: Coercive Air Power and NATO’s Strategy in Kosovo
- 5 Operation Enduring Freedom
- 6 The Result Is Never Final: Operation Iraqi Freedom
- 7 Israeli Air Force Effectiveness during the Second Lebanon War (2006)
- 8 Libya 2011: Hollow Victory in Low-Cost Air War
- 9 Coercing a Chaos State: The Saudi-Led Air War in Yemen
- 10 Russia’s Air War Win in Syria
- 11 Air Power in the Battle of Mosul
- 12 Retrospect and Prospect: Air Power in the Age of Primacy and Beyond
- Index
Summary
In 2011, the Arab Spring led to numerous uprisings against authoritarian leaders across the Middle East. While the reactions of governments varied, Libya sparked the most interest given its notoriety as a pariah state and Colonel Qaddafi’s provocations against the regime’s domestic enemies. This chapter examines how the anti-Qaddafi coalition formed under the guise of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and how the imposition of a no-fly zone to protect civilians slowly transitioned into a mission to destroy pro-Qaddafi forces while defending rebel positions. Momentum shifted as anti-regime forces developed innovative ways of communicating with NATO air forces, which provided more precise targeting. However, the downfall of Qaddafi – aided by air power – was a short-lived victory as the country fragmented along numerous political and tribal lines, with a full-blown civil war reigniting in 2014. To this day, numerous countries are backing different rebels that claim to represent the Libyan government.
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- Air Power in the Age of PrimacyAir Warfare since the Cold War, pp. 177 - 200Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021