Dutch Marines Captured by Kadhafi

Evacuating civilians is a legitimate reason to have military forces moving towards Libya. But even in operations like evacuating civilians, Murphy's Law applies.

Three Dutch soldiers were taken prisoner at the weekend by armed men during an operation to evacuate civilians from Libya, the Dutch defence ministry said Thursday.

"We confirm it," a navy official told AFP when asked about the capture of three marines reported by Dutch daily De Telegraaf.

The paper said the three marines were helping with the evacuation from Sirte of two civilians, one Dutch and another European, in a helicopter that crashed.

The marines were attacked by armed men loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi who captured them. The two civilians were handed over by the Libyans to the Dutch embassy and have since left Libya, according to De Telegraaf.

While there has been a lot of speculation regarding what the US might do in Libya, it appears Robert Gates drew a red line during his testimony in front of the House Appropriations Committee on Defense when he said:

"There is a lot of, frankly, loose talk about some of these military options."

"Let’s just call a spade a spade: A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses."

Supporting the Dutch in a rescue operation of Dutch Marines captured by Kadhafi? Outside of evacuating US civilians, that is about the extent of US military activity that may be seen in Libya, and in a Dutch rescue operation the only role the US would likely play would be to provide the Kearsarge as a launch platform for Dutch helicopters and personnel.

While moving ships into the area is prudent from a planning point of view, with most US citizens already evacuated it is unclear what, if any, active role the US will play. Providing humanitarian supplies? Maybe, but during a civil war? Maybe not.