Obama orders military to prepare options on Libya
President Obama renewed his call for Moammar Khadafy to give up power in Libya and said on Thursday that he has authorized the U.S. military to study a "full range of options" to respond to the violence in the North African country.
Obama said he wants to continue working with international partners as the civil strife continues in Libya, holder of Africa's largest oil reserves. The options being studied include both military measures and humanitarian assistance. Obama said he has ordered the Pentagon to help refugees from Libya get back to their home countries.
The United States must be to be able "to act, potentially rapidly, if the situation deteriorated in such a way that you had a humanitarian crisis on our hands," Obama said Thursday at a news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the White House. There is a danger that the turmoil could end up in a "bloody" stalemate.
"We will continue to send a clear message: The violence must stop," Obama said. Khadafy "has lost legitimacy to lead, and he must leave."
Two Navy warships, with 800 Marines aboard, will arrive off Libya within a day or two for possible humanitarian operations, and an additional 400 Marines have been dispatched, according to Josh Diddams, a spokesman for the Marine Corps at the Pentagon. Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, said two aircraft carriers are already in the region and a third, the George H.W. Bush, is preparing for deployment there from Norfolk, Va.
Opposition leaders are calling for international air strikes against Khadafy's forces, and there is mounting pressure from lawmakers to establish a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent the regime from using aircraft against the rebels.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that setting up a no-fly zone over the North African country would first require attacking and destroying Libyan air defenses. He told a House panel that it would be "a big operation in a big country."
China joined Russia Wednesday in signaling probable opposition to action by the U.N. Security Council to authorize such action.
By Roger Runningen, Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg News
source:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F03%2F04%2FMNET1I3F0V.DTL
Obama said he wants to continue working with international partners as the civil strife continues in Libya, holder of Africa's largest oil reserves. The options being studied include both military measures and humanitarian assistance. Obama said he has ordered the Pentagon to help refugees from Libya get back to their home countries.
The United States must be to be able "to act, potentially rapidly, if the situation deteriorated in such a way that you had a humanitarian crisis on our hands," Obama said Thursday at a news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the White House. There is a danger that the turmoil could end up in a "bloody" stalemate.
"We will continue to send a clear message: The violence must stop," Obama said. Khadafy "has lost legitimacy to lead, and he must leave."
Two Navy warships, with 800 Marines aboard, will arrive off Libya within a day or two for possible humanitarian operations, and an additional 400 Marines have been dispatched, according to Josh Diddams, a spokesman for the Marine Corps at the Pentagon. Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, said two aircraft carriers are already in the region and a third, the George H.W. Bush, is preparing for deployment there from Norfolk, Va.
Opposition leaders are calling for international air strikes against Khadafy's forces, and there is mounting pressure from lawmakers to establish a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent the regime from using aircraft against the rebels.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that setting up a no-fly zone over the North African country would first require attacking and destroying Libyan air defenses. He told a House panel that it would be "a big operation in a big country."
China joined Russia Wednesday in signaling probable opposition to action by the U.N. Security Council to authorize such action.
By Roger Runningen, Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg News
source:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F03%2F04%2FMNET1I3F0V.DTL
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