The widespread availability of unsecured MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense Systems) coupled with an abundance of radical elements has everyone concerned. Of course there’s the threat that these weapons could be smuggled out of Libya and used to target commercial aircraft. But there is also a a greater and more immediate threat to the NTC. If they can’t disarm the various militias and either engage or remove radical elements from the population they could wind up facing an internal threat that is very well armed.
U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, chief of Africa Command, has said that the U.S. will sustain an ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) presence for months to combat this problem. That will help, but other assets will be needed and needed quickly to minimize the threat. Intelligence coordination with the NTC on this topic, and their responsiveness to identified threats, will tell us quite a bit about how this relationship is going to evolve.
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