(17.3.2011) 7.16pm ET: Italy announces it is opening its air force and naval bases in Sicily for operations against Libya – the obvious spot to base US and British jets.
The Berlusconi government may have had relatively warm relations with Libya, but Italy‘s Nato obligations gave it little choice but to allow other members to use its bases.
(13.1.2014) By 1981, the country that was picked for this purpose by the National Security Council (NSC) was Libya. Libya was an OPEC country with few powerful connections, lots of nearby enemies, and a small population. In short, the perfect target. Once Libya was chosen by a few higher ups in the NSC, what was needed was to get the president, Ronald Reagan, on board. Seymour Hersh details in his New York Times report, Target Gaddafi, how the NSC and the CIA quickly accomplished this goal. “‘It was clear early in the Administration,‘ one former White House aide recalls, ‚that the best way to get the President‘s attention was through visual means.‘” This led to the creation of a 15 minute long video, “to show the nature of the beast. If you saw it, there‘s little doubt that [Gaddafi] had to go.” Once the president was on their side, the NSC, in cooperation with the CIA, began to leak reports endorsed by Reagan that Libyan hit squads were roaming the United States, planning assassinations on diplomats and even the president.
“One involved official recalls, ‘we came out with this big terrorist threat to the U.S. Government. The whole thing was a complete fabrication.’”
(14.5.2011) Italy has actively participated in the bombing of Libya since April 28. Day and night, Italian fighter jets take off from Birgi Trapani air force base in Sicily and from the aircraft carrier Garibaldi to drop their deadly cargo over the former Italian colony.