An interesting little tidbit to pass along from the Strategy Page (along with the 700th different spelling of his Gadaffi’s last name): The rebellion against the Kadaffi dictatorship in Libya has not produced any official outside help, but Egypt has apparently sent some of its commandos in to help out the largely amateur rebel force. Wearing civilian clothes, the hundred or so Egyptian commandos are officially not there, but are providing crucial skills and experience to help the rebels cope with the largely irregular, and mercenary, force still controlled by the Kadaffi clan. There are also some commandos from Britain (SAS) and American (Special Forces) operators are also believed wandering around, mainly to escort diplomats or perform reconnaissance (and find out who is in charge among the rebels). The Egyptian commandos alleged to be operating in Libya are from Unit 777 which, according to Strategy Page, is considered to be a highly “competent” counter-terrorist unit: Unit 777 trains with the help of the German GSG-9, French GIGN, and American Delta Force commandos. All Unit 777 members are qualified in static-line (low altitude) airborne operations, and possibly with HALO (high altitude jumps) as well. But Unit 777’s job in the past, under the Mubarak regime, was the suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood. So, here they are, allegedly in Libya, advising the rebels. Question: if true, who sent them (given Egypt’s current “turmoil”)? Question: if their previous duty was suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood, what’s their current mission in Egypt? Question: what is their real mission in Libya - is this a move by Egypt to annex a part of Libya eventually? Any Egyptian involvement in Libya has to be handled very carefully. While the two countries fought a three day war in 1977, the real cause of tension is the fact that for thousands of years, most of Libya was considered part of Egypt. Given the fact that Libya has all that oil, and less than a tenth of the population of Egypt, well, then, you can figure out the rest. But for the moment, everyone is a revolutionary brother. At least for as long as the moment lasts, then history takes over. And should the rebels eventually win and given the obvious turmoil that would follow, who would be positioned then to perhaps annex a part of Libya – most likely the part with oil - claiming historical sovereignty? Oh … and what would we (or could we) do about it?
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/mdv-tj6EQlk/are-egyptian-commandos-operating-in-libya.html
Posted
Mar 07 2011, 12:25 AM
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BLACKFIVE