U.S. says Gadhafi's drive halted, but future of Libyan mission unclear
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 22, 2011 -- Updated 1021 GMT (1821 HKT)
Pro-Gadhafi forces dramatically halted
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A military commander says an international coalition has degraded Gadhafi's
strength
Despite Gadhafi's claim of a cease fire, violence continues in Misrata, a
witness says
Coalition members are trying to decide who should command the military
mission
There are no plans to target Gadhafi, the commander says
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- An international mission to weaken the force of Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi has stopped the ruler's momentum, a U.S. official said.
But criticism and questions about the operation persist, with no clear answer
on who will take over command of the military operation and what the end game
will be.
Missiles and anti-aircraft fire pierced through the sky in Tripoli before dawn
Tuesday -- the fourth day of Operation Odyssey Dawn, the multinational effort
to protect civilians from attack by pro-Gadhafi forces.
The United States fired 20 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya in the past 12
hours, a military spokeswoman said early Tuesday morning. A total of 159
Tomahawks have been fired by the United States and the United Kingdom since the
mission -- called Operation Odyssey Dawn -- began Saturday.
Cmdr. Monica Rousselow also said one of the three U.S. submarines that
participated at the beginning of the operation has since departed the area. She
declined to say which submarine.
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The head of U.S. forces in Libya told reporters that the coalition forces had
made "very effective" progress Monday toward their goal of enforcing a U.N.
Security Council resolution. The resolution allows member states "to take all
necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country
... while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of
Libyan territory."
"We think we have been very effective in degrading his ability to control his
regime forces," said Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command.
No Libyan aircraft has been observed operating since the military operations
began over the weekend, Ham said. And air attacks have stopped Libyan ground
forces from approaching the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi, with some
even turning back from the city, he said.
But Gadhafi himself has not been targeted, and there are no plans to do so, Ham
added. In fact, he said, "I could see accomplishing the military mission, which
has been assigned to me, and the current leader would remain the current
leader."
Gadhafi -- who has not spoken out publicly since he promised a "long-drawn war"
with "the new Nazis" on Sunday -- has announced a cease fire. But ongoing
bloodshed in Misrata indicated a very different reality, according to an
opposition spokesman.
The spokesman, Mohamed -- who would not divulge his last name out of concern
for his safety -- said Monday the destruction in the key city was
"unimaginable" and that Misrata was bombarded heavily over the past four days
by forces loyal to Gadhafi.
"He keeps talking about a cease-fire, but he hasn't observed that for one
minute here," Mohamed said.
Based on what he saw at a hospital, Mohamed said Monday's death toll among
civilians at the hands of pro-Gadhafi forces was 15. Another 51 civilians died
in weekend attacks by pro-Gadhafi forces, Mohamed said.
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About 80 sorties were flown Monday -- more than half of them by air forces
representing countries other than the United States, Ham said.
Air forces from France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Britain flew missions to
maintain a no-fly zone over Benghazi, Ham said.
The coalition focused on extending the no-fly zone to al-Brega, Misrata and
then to Tripoli, a distance of about 1,000 kilometers (more than 600 miles).
Canadian and Belgian forces joined coalition forces Monday, he said, and
aircraft carriers from Italy and France have added "significant capability" in
the region.
But support for the attacks was not universal. The Russian government said the
mission has killed innocent civilians and urged more caution. India, China and
Venezuela have also spoken out against the airstrikes.
The Libyan government said over the weekend that 48 people -- mostly women,
children and clerics -- have died in allied attacks.
U.S. Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, however, has said there is no indication of any
civilian casualties. And France -- which conducted the first strike in Libya on
Saturday when fighter jets fired at a military vehicle -- also disputed claims
of civilian deaths.
The United States has said it wants to hand over leadership of the military
operation in the coming days.
NATO could command the coalition's no-fly mission in Libya, but some Arab
nations are hesitant to fly under a NATO banner -- and that has held up the
move, said one official who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity
of negotiations.
"NATO has the capability to do a rapid switchover," the official said. "The
problem is, they have to do everything by consensus."
If Arab nations don't sign on to a NATO mission, the other option would be to
create an ad-hoc command-and-control structure piece by piece, the defense
official said. But that, the official said, would take time.
CNN's Nic Robertson, Arwa Damon, Ivan Watson, Virginia Nicolaidis, Pam Benson,
Yousif Basil, Charley Keyes, Chris Lawrence, Jill Dougherty, Elise Labott,
Paula Newton, Richard Roth, Maxim Tkachenko, Niki Cook and journalist Mohamed
Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report
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