Allies Intensify Barrage in Libya
Anja Niedringhaus/Associated Press
Libyans celebrated atop a wrecked tank belonging to loyalist forces on the outskirts of Benghazi. More Photos »
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: March 20, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya — American and European forces intensified their barrage of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces by air and sea on Sunday, a day after an initial American cruise missile barrage badly damaged Libyan air defenses, military officials said.
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A rebel fighter watches as vehicles belonging to Qaddafi forces burn after an airstrike by allied forces, along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah.More Photos »
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In a first assessment from Washington, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the first day of “operations yesterday went very well.” Speaking to NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said a no-flight zone over Libya to ground Colonel Qaddafi’s warplanes — a prime goal of the attacks — was “effectively” in place and that a loyalist advance on the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi had been halted.
American warplanes became more involved on Sunday, with B-2 stealth bombers, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets and Harrier attack jets flown by the Marine Corps striking at Libyan ground forces, air defenses and airfields, while Navy electronic warplanes, EA-18G Growlers, jammed Libyan radar and communications. British planes flew frequent bombing missions, and French forces remained heavily involved in patrol and airstrike missions near Benghazi, officials said.
Rebel forces, battered and routed by loyalist fighters just day before, began to regroup in the east as allied warplanes destroyed dozens of government armored vehicles near the rebel capital, Benghazi, leaving a field of burned wreckage along the coastal road to the city. By nightfall, the rebels had pressed almost 40 miles back west toward the strategic crossroads city of Ajdabiya, witnesses and rebel forces said. And they seemed to consolidate control of Benghazi despite heavy fighting there against loyalist forces on Saturday.
A day after a summit meeting in Paris set the military operation in motion, some Arab participants in the agreement expressed unhappiness with the way the strikes were unfolding. The former chairman of the Arab League,Amr Moussa, told Egyptian state media that he was calling for an emergency Arab League meeting to discuss the situation in the Arab world and particularly Libya.
“What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," he said, referring to Libyan government claims that allied bombardment had killed dozens of civilians in and near Tripoli.
In assessing the results for the military mission so far, Admiral Mullen said the allies had made great progress toward their short-term military roles. “We hit a lot of targets, focused on his command and control, focused on his air defense, and actually attacked some of his forces on the ground in the vicinity of Benghazi,” Admiral Mullen told Fox News.
But it remained unclear just how those short-term military objectives — establishing a no-flight zone and protecting Libyan civilians, as mandated by United Nations Security Council — aligned with the political objectives of the Obama administration. Both Mr. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have said in recent days that Colonel Qaddafi must go.
Admiral Mullen said the military was focused only on the mission given to it by Mr. Obama and the United Nations, protecting Libyan civilians from attack and opening up humanitarian relief, by whatever means necessary. He did not mention ousting Colonel Qaddafi or arming the Libyan rebels as an objective.
That left Christiane Amanpour of ABC’s “This Week” to ask if it was possible that Colonel Qadaffi could end up remaining in office, with the allies operating a no-flight zone over Libya for 12 years, as happened with Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
“I think circumstances will drive where this goes in the future,” Admiral Mullen said. “I wouldn’t speculate in terms of length at this particular point in time.”
In Libya, Colonel Qaddafi delivered a fresh and defiant tirade against the allied military action on Sunday, pledging retaliation and saying his forces would fight a long war to victory.
He was speaking in a telephone call to state television, which, apparently for security reasons, did not disclose his whereabouts. The Libyan leader has not been seen in public since the United States and European countries began their strikes.
“We will fight you if you continue your attacks on us,” Mr. Qaddafi said. “Those who are on the land will win the battle,” he declared, warning without explanation that “oil will not be left to the United States, France and Britain.”
