US pressures allies to take Libya mission now

Last Updated: Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 11:11

Washington: The United States turned up the pressure on quarrelling NATO allies to take command of the air war in Libya on Wednesday, suggesting the US could step away from its leadership role as soon as this weekend, even with the conflict`s outcome in doubt.

In Congress, meanwhile, the Republican speaker of the House demanded that President Barack Obama quickly spell out the nation`s precise goals in Libya. White House officials said Obama would keep updating the American people and a formal address was possible. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said order could be resolved quickly — if Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi would just quit.

The US threat to give up its leadership of the military efforts rang somewhat hollow, since officials said there was no absolute deadline to hand over frontline control to other countries, or for an end to all US participation. Still, the administration is eager to hand off the lead role in a conflict that some of Obama`s closest advisers resisted and that is raising complaints in Congress.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates, himself an early sceptic American military intervention in Libya, said Obama made clear from the start of the international air campaign last Saturday that the US would run it for only about a week. The assault began with a barrage of US cruise missiles fired by ships and submarines in the Mediterranean and with American Stealth bomber flights — the first war initiated by a president who inherited two others.

In an exchange with reporters travelling with him in Cairo on Wednesday, Gates was asked whether his comments meant the US had set a hard deadline of this Saturday for turning over command of the air operations.

"I don`t want to be pinned down that closely," he replied. "But what we`ve been saying is that we would expect this transition to the coalition, to a different command and control arrangement, to take place within a few days and I would still stand by that."

The US and its partners are struggling to overcome a key dilemma of their mission: how to halt Gaddafi`s ground forces, which are now attacking urban areas, without endangering the very civilians the allies are supposed to protect.

As Obama returned to Washington from a three-nation tour of Latin America, Democrats lined up in support of his Libya approach. Congressional liberals and conservatives have criticised the President — some accusing him of acting too slowly, others saying he moved too quickly. Some have said he should have asked for Congress` approval before committing US troops to combat.

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No 2 Senate Democrat, said that when Gaddafi started a violent crackdown on his people, Obama moved with "unprecedented speed”, and when Gaddafi remained defiant, Obama worked with allies and the Arab nations. He called it a "prudent course of action for the President and for our nation”.

But Republican Boehner, in a letter to the White House, said Obama still must provide a clear and robust assessment of the mission and how it will be achieved. Boehner did not call for a vote in the House on the commitment of US military resources, as some lawmakers have demanded.

Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters travelling with the President that it would be "a matter of days" for the transition away from US leadership.


"There is an agreement that NATO is going to play a very important role on command and control," Rhodes said, adding that details on the structure and shaping of the transition were still under discussion.

French and British officials said US, European, and Arab and African officials have been invited to London next week for political talks about Libya and how the NATO alliance will assume responsibility for a no-fly zone that has been established to keep Gaddafi`s planes out of the air over his country.

Administration officials conceded there is no clear end to the fighting, although the Pentagon contended that Gaddafi`s Air Force is essentially defeated and coalition planes are targeting more of his ground forces. US officials said other countries are flying a larger share of the combat strikes alongside US warplanes.

The Pentagon said that over the past day, the coalition flew 175 air missions, including noncombat flights. Of that total, 113 flights, or about 65 percent, were flown by US planes, and 62 by other nations` aircraft. Three days earlier, the US share was 87 percent, the Pentagon said.

Obama was asked in an interview with the Spanish-language network Univision if a land invasion would be out of the question in the event air strikes failed to dislodge Gaddafi, the US President called it "absolutely" out of the question.

Asked what the exit strategy is, Obama didn`t lay out a vision for ending the international action, but rather said: "The exit strategy will be executed this week in the sense that we will be pulling back from our much more active efforts to shape the environment."

"We`ll still be in a support role, we`ll still be providing jamming and intelligence and other assets that are unique to us, but this is an international effort that`s designed to accomplish the goals that were set out in the Security Council resolution," Obama said.

Gates said the allied mission in Libya was clear but the outcome was not.

"I think there are many number of possible outcomes here, and no one is in a position to predict them," Gates said. One possibility, he said, is that Gaddafi, who has ruled the North African nation for 42 years, could see more major defections from within his ruling circle or more divisions within his family.

Hillary sounded a similar note.

"Gaddafi has a decision to make," she told reporters at the State Department. "And the people around him each have decisions to make. The quickest way for him to end this is to actually serve the Libyan people by leaving."

Gaddafi has remained defiant, however, vowing to resist to the end. hillary had said on Tuesday that the US had received reports — of possibly dubious veracity — that some in Gaddafi`s inner circle were looking for a way out.

In a telephone interview with reporters at the Pentagon from aboard his command ship, the USS Mount Whitney, in the Mediterranean, Navy Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber asserted that Gaddafi`s air force had essentially been defeated. He said no Libyan aircraft had attempted to fly over the previous 24 hours.

"Those aircraft have either been destroyed or rendered inoperable," Hueber said.

He said, "There is widespread reporting indicating Libyan ground forces are engaged in fighting in a number of cities, including Ajdabiya and Misrata, and they are threatening a number of others, putting innocent civilians in grave danger."

Bureau Report

First Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 11:11

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