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Lawmakers of both parties voiced skepticism over the length, scope and costs of the mission. "We have to a very large extent completed the military mission in terms of getting it set up. Now, the no-fly zone and even the humanitarian side will have to be sustained for some period of time," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Asked for how long on NBC's "Meet the Press," Gates said, "Nobody knows the answer to that question." But he said sustaining the no-fly zone would take "a lot less effort" than establishing it. He said the Pentagon was planning to shift some of its resources to European and other countries pledging to take on a larger role
On ABC's "This Week," Gates said some NATO officials suggested it would take three months "but people in the Pentagon think it could be far longer than that." Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the rounds of network talk shows - in interviews taped Saturday and aired Sunday - to promote the administration's case before Obama's speech on Monday night. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which took over enforcing the no-fly zone from the U.S. late last week, seemed likely to expand its air mission on Sunday to assume command of American-led air strikes against Gadhafi's ground forces. The U.S. is eager to hand off responsibility for air strikes to the alliance.
Clinton told CBS' "Face the Nation" that no decision had yet been made on the whether to arm rebels seeking Gadhafi's ouster. So far, "results on the ground are pretty significant," she said. The secretary of state said she recognizes that many Americans are concerned about the role of the U.S. - already burdened by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - and that "the president will speak to the country Monday night to answer a lot of those concerns." Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sounded some of those concerns in advance of Monday's 7:30 p.m. EDT speech.
Lugar said the president still has not developed a plan spelling out the extent of future U.S. involvement in Libya and how objectives are to be achieved. Nor, Lugar said, has there been a debate over how to pay the tab and how much it could total. "There has to be objectives and a plan and an agreement that we're prepared to devote the military forces but also the money," Lugar said on "Meet the Press." "Who knows how long this goes on and, furthermore, who has budgeted for Libya at all?" asked Lugar, who in the past has been supportive of Obama on most military issues.
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The move, not yet publicly announced, reinforces the White House message of a diminishing U.S. role - a central point in President Barack Obama's national address Monday night on Libya. The White House booked Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on three Sunday news shows to promote the administration's case ahead of the speech. Yet Gates, asked whether the military operation might be over by year's end, said, "I don't think anybody knows the answer to that."
At least one of the five Navy ships and submarines that have launched dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan targets from positions in the Mediterranean Sea has left the area, three defense officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive military movements. That still leaves what officials believe is sufficient naval firepower off Libya's coast, and it coincides with NATO's decision Sunday to take over command and control of the entire Libya operation. Aided by international air power, Libyan rebels were reported to have made important gains by capturing two oil complexes along the coast.
The shrinking of the naval presence adds substance to Obama's expected reassurance to the American people that after kicking off the Libyan mission, the U.S. is now handing off to partner countries in Europe and elsewhere the bulk of the responsibility for suppressing Gadhafi's forces. NATO's governing body, meeting in Brussels, accepted a plan for the transfer of command. That is expected to mean that U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, who has been the top commander of the Libya operation, will switch to a support role. Obama administration officials claimed progress in Libya, but lawmakers in both parties voiced skepticism over the length, scope and costs of the mission.
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Charter of the United Nations: Chapter I: Purposes and Principles
The UN's purpose is to keep conflicts from crossing borders.
Not for interfering within them.
Who is behind Obama's policy who is pulling his strings ?
