US on Libya.........

suchithkc

Washington, March 22 :US President Barack Obama has said that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi 'needs to go', but asserted that the ongoing international air raids in support of a no-fly zone over Libya are not meant to achieve that goal.
According to Xinhua, Obama said: 'I have stated that it is US policy that Gaddafi needs to go.'
'We've got a wide range of tools in addition to our military efforts to support that policy,' he said, referring to US unilateral sanctions and push for international sanctions on the Gaddafi government.

But he stressed that the current US military action is in support of an 'international mandate' from the UN Security Council that specifically focuses on the humanitarian threat posed by Gaddafi, and the US will stick to that mandate.

Obama said this Monday in Chile during a joint press conference with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.
The UN Security Council resolution adopted last week authorized a no-fly zone over Libya to 'protect civilians' of the country, which is different from the US policy to see the toppling of Gaddafi.
'There is going to be a transition taking place in which we are one of the partners among many who are going to ensure that no-fly zone is in force and that the humanitarian protection that needs to be provided continues to be in place,' said the US president.

'After consultation with our allies, we decided to move forward, ' he said, adding he expected the transition from military actions to establishing a no-fly zone to take place 'in matter of days'.
A coalition of American, British and French forces bombed by air and from the sea key targets in Libya in aid of rebels holding Benghazi, the country's second largest city.

French jets launched the attack -- named Operation Odyssey Dawn -- Saturday, hitting government tanks and armoured vehicles on the road to Benghazi.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview with Russia's Interfax news agency Monday that the United States will soon scale down its participation in the military actions against Libya.

The US has said it would continue to consult India, Brazil and Germany, which abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution establishing a no-fly zone in Libya, on its implementation.
'I mean, they're obviously going to be consulted with moving forward,' State Department Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Monday when asked about the kind of support US was receiving from them on the operation in Libya.
'I'll ask them to explain their votes. Beyond that, I don't really have much to say other than that we'll continue to consult with them,' he said.
Asked if there is going to be any repercussions for the abstentions, the spokesman responded with a flat 'No'.
Pressed if there was any frustration with their action, Toner said: 'Not that I'm aware of.'
Asked if there was a possibility for a diplomatic solution with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the US official echoing President Barack Obama said: 'I think only in that he would leave power.'
Obama said in Chile Monday that Gaddafi 'needs to go', but asserted that the ongoing international air raids in support of a no-fly zone over Libya were not meant to achieve that goal.
'I have stated that it is US policy that Gaddafi needs to go. We've got a wide range of tools in addition to our military efforts to support that policy,' Obama said.
But he stressed that the current US military action was in support of an 'international mandate' from the UN Security Council that specifically focused on the humanitarian threat posed by Gaddafi, and the US will stick to that mandate.
When the State Department was asked why Gaddafi was not the target, the spokesman said because that was not the goal of the UN resolution.
In reply to an unrelated question about WikiLeaks reports relating to India, Toner said he was 'not aware of' any high-level contact between the US and India on the reported issues.

A growing number of U.S. Republicans are criticizing President Barack Obama for failing to lay out a clear plan on Libya and mounting costly military operations at a time when America's budget deficit is gaping.
Republicans largely backed Obama's strategy in Afghanistan. But senior party figures including House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard McKeon and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen are questioning the Libya air assaults.
The disagreement could further sour relations with the Republicans at a time when the Democratic president needs them to agree on levels of federal spending at home to avoid a government shutdown and potential debt default.
Ros-Lehtinen expressed concern that Obama has not yet clearly defined for the American people what vital U.S. national security interests are at stake in Libya.
"Deferring to the United Nations and calling on our military personnel to enforce the 'writ of the international community' sets a dangerous precedent," Ros-Lehtinen said.
Ros-Lehtinen last week defended Obama's surge strategy in Afghanistan against a bipartisan resolution to pull out. It failed in the House on a vote of 321-93.
Some of the loudest Republican voices of dissent over the U.S role in the attacks on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces are from rank-and-file Republicans with support from the conservative Tea Party movement.
"We are currently involved in two wars right now and I don't think we really need to be involved in a third war," said Senator Rand Paul, a fiscal hawk and founding member of the Tea Party caucus in the Senate, referring to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Other Republicans are unhappy at what they see as the lack of consultation on Libya from Obama.
Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate. Obama and Republicans are fighting over short-term government spending levels and disagree on how to get gaping U.S. budget deficits under control over the longer term.
They must agree by April 8 on a spending bill, or face a possible government shutdown. Republicans are seeking deep government spending cuts, and the Libya operations may make a bigger hole in the budget.
'CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER'
Some Republicans are calling for a congressional debate and possibly even a vote on U.S. action in Libya.
"Americans will pay any price to secure our country. But if there's no clear and present danger to the United States of America, I think cost does become an issue," Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was re-elected last November with Tea Party support, told Reuters. He favors a congressional vote on the Libya action.
Obama and Republicans are at loggerheads on a variety of issues, but have not differed as much on military matters. Most Republicans backed his "surge" decision adding 30,000 more U.S. troops to the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have been calling for action to stop Gaddafi from crushing Libyan rebels.
But analyst Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute think tank said she did not see a contradiction between supporting the Afghan surge and doubting the Libya strikes. Nor did she see a clash between the attitude of McCain and the skepticism of other Republicans.
"Most Republicans supported the surge in Afghanistan because they understand the stakes, they understand what is going on, that it has been going on for a long time and we must win," Pletka said.
But Obama has not made a convincing case for the Libya action to Congress, Pletka said. A meeting he had with some lawmakers last Friday was too "last minute," she said, adding that he should have had an Oval Office address to explain the action to the public.
Obama sent a letter to Congress saying the U.S. purpose in Libya was to enforce a U.N. resolution authorizing the protection of civilians from attacks.
Obama said in Chile on Monday that Gaddafi "needs to go." He also said the United States will transfer control of the air assault on Libyan forces within days.
"There needs to be a plan about what happens after Gaddafi," Republican Senator Richard Lugar said. "Who will be in charge then, and who pays for this all? President Obama, so far, has only expressed vague hopes."

Anti-aircraft fire rang out across Tripoli for a third night as air attacks were reported in the capital and on targets in eastern Libya.
But a U.S. general said allied bombing raids were likely to become less frequent as Washington holds back from being sucked into the Libyan civil war.
State television said several sites had come under attack in the capital on Monday. Western powers had no confirmation of new strikes in a U.N.-mandated campaign to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
Rebels, who had been driven back towards their eastern Benghazi stronghold before the air attacks halted an advance by Gaddafi's forces, have so far done little to capitalise on the campaign -- raising fears the war could grind to a stalemate.
But Washington, wary of being drawn into another war after long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, has ruled out specific action to overthrow Gaddafi, though France said on Monday it hoped the Libyan government would collapse from within.
"My sense is that -- that unless something unusual or unexpected happens, we may see a decline in the frequency of attacks," General Carter Ham, who is leading U.S. forces in the Libyan operation, told reporters in Washington.
Libya Graphics, click http://link.reuters.com/neg68r
President Barack Obama, facing questions at home about the United States military getting bogged down in a third Muslim country, said Washington would cede control of the Libyan operation in days.
"We anticipate this transition to take place in a matter of days and not in a matter of weeks," Obama told a news conference during a visit to Chile.
He did not spell out which nation or organisation would take charge, but Britain and France took a lead role in pushing for the intervention in Libya. The missile strikes have already been extensive enough to have destroyed much of Libya's air defences.
Libyan state television reported that several sites in Tripoli had been subject to new attacks by what it called the "crusader enemy". "These attacks are not going to scare the Libyan people," said a state television broadcast.
Anti-aircraft gunfire rang out throughout the night and pro-Gaddafi slogans echoed around the city centre. Cars sped through Tripoli streets honking wildly.
Al Jazeera television said radar installations at two air defence bases in eastern Libya had been hit. However, a French armed forces spokesman said France, which has been involved in strikes in the east, had no planes in the air at the time.
Meanwhile, residents in two besieged rebel-held cities in western Libya, Misrata and Zintan, said they had been attacked by Gaddafi's forces. Security analysts have said they believe government troops will try to force their way into civilian areas to escape attack from the air.
In Misrata, residents said people had gone out into the streets to try to stop Gaddafi's forces entering the city.
"When they gathered in the centre, the Gaddafi forces started shooting at them with artillery and guns," said the resident, who gave his name as Saadoun. He said nine people were killed.
Zintan, near the Tunisian border, faced heavy shelling, two witnesses said, forcing residents to flee to mountain caves. Several houses were destroyed and a mosque minaret destroyed.
"New forces were sent today to besiege the city. There are now at least 40 tanks at the foothills of the mountains near Zintan," Abdulrahmane Daw told Reuters by phone from the town.
The reports could not be independently verified.
DIPLOMATIC SETBACK
The United States and its allies have run into some criticism for the intensity of the firepower it unleashed on Libya, including more than 110 Tomahawk missiles on Saturday.
Brazil called late on Monday for a ceasefire in Libya while China once more urged an end to the fighting, expressing "deep concern" at reported civilian casualties.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who backed the U.N. resolution supporting military intervention, has questioned the methods used, while Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin compared the air campaign to "medieval crusades".
Libyan rebels have welcomed the air strikes and say they are coordinating with the Western powers launching air strikes.
But there was little sign at the vanguard of battle in east Libya that this communication extended to forward rebel units.
Western powers say they are not providing close air support to rebels or seeking to destroy Gaddafi's army, but rather only protecting civilians, as their U.N. mandate allows, leaving disorganised rebel fighters struggling to make headway.
"If we don't get more help from the West, Gaddafi's forces will eat us alive," rebel fighter Nouh Musmari told Reuters.
Security analysts say it is unclear what will happen if the Libyan leader digs in, especially since Western powers have made clear they would be unwilling to see Libya partitioned between a rebel-held east and Gaddafi-controlled west.
"There is still a real risk of a protracted stalemate, with neither side wanting to negotiate. So the endgame remains very unclear," said Jeremy Binnie, a senior analyst with IHS Jane's.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said the operation would not drag into another Iraq-style conflict.
"This is different to Iraq. This is not going into a country, knocking over its government and then owning and being responsible for everything that happens subsequently," Cameron said during a parliamentary debate on Libya.
"This is about protecting people and giving the Libyan people a chance to shape their own destiny," he said.
In an appearance on Libyan television on Sunday, Gaddafi promised his enemies a "long war".
GADDAFI NOT TARGETED, WEST SAYS
Officials in Tripoli said that one missile on Sunday, which they said was intended to kill Gaddafi, had destroyed a building in his compound, heavily bombed in 1986 by the United States.
"It was a barbaric bombing," said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel that he said came from the missile. "This contradicts American and Western (statements) ... that it is not their target to attack this place."
A Libyan government spokesman also said that foreign attacks had killed many people by bombing ports and Sirte airport.
"You saw that place (Sirte airport)," Mussa Ibrahim told a news conference. "It's a civilian airport. It was bombarded and many people were killed. Harbours were also bombarded."
Cameron said there were no plans to target Gaddafi. "The U.N. resolution is limited in its scope, it explicitly does not provide legal authority for action to bring about Gaddafi's removal from power by military means," he told parliament.
"We will help fulfil the U.N. Security Council (resolution), it is for the Libyan people to determine their government and their destiny, but our view is clear, there is no decent future for Libya with Colonel Gaddafi remaining in power."
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he hoped Libyans themselves would topple Gaddafi: "When will the regime collapse? It is quite possible that, given the weakness of the regime, it will break up from within."