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In a post-conflict analysis of the air strike campaign in Libya, NATO finds numerous flaws in its system impairing its efficiency, including over-reliance on the United States, faulty coordination, and numerous civilian casualties, reports the New York Times.
Despite widespread praise in Western capitals for 's leadership of the air campaign in , a confidential NATO assessment paints a sobering portrait of the alliance's ability to carry out such campaigns without significant support from the United States.
The report concluded that the allies struggled to share crucial target information, lacked specialized planners and analysts, and overly relied on the United States for reconnaissance and refueling aircraft.
The findings undercut the idea that the intervention was a model operation and that NATO could effectively carry out a more complicated campaign in without relying disproportionately on the United States military. Even with the American help in Libya, NATO had only about 40 percent of the aircraft needed to intercept electronic communications, a shortage that hindered the operation's effectiveness, the report said.
