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Sen. John McCain said that as Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi faces an "inevitable" end, the U.S. should concern itself with helping contain weapons from Qaddafi's arsenal. "We've got to secure these weapons depots," the Arizona Republican said on CBS' "The Early Show" Tuesday. "that have huge, huge numbers of weapons, and apparently mustard gas and other weapons of mass destruction."

Part 1, Article 1: “Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).”

The Pentagon says attacks by armed Predator unmanned planes have risen to 1.4 a day. Washington (CNN) -- As the rebels in Libya push closer to ending the regime of embattled Col. Moammar Gadhafi, U.S. warplanes have been increasing their attacks on government positions as part of the NATO campaign. New numbers released by the Pentagon on Monday show that the number of U.S. air attacks on Libyan air defenses, ground forces and other targets has nearly doubled over the past 12 days, compared with air attacks in the first 132 days of the NATO mission. There was an average...

The cost of U.S. military intervention in Libya has cost American taxpayers an estimated $896 million through July 31, the Pentagon said today. The price tag includes the amounts for daily military operations, munitions used in the operation and humanitarian assistance for the Libyan people. The U.S. has also promised $25 million in non-lethal aid to the Libyan Transitional National Council, half of which the Defense Department has already on MRE’s (military lingo for Meals, Ready to Eat). The military delivered 120,000 Halal MRE’s to Benghazi in May and a second shipment that included medical supplies, boots, tents, uniforms, and...

Moammar Kadafi’s fall from power would be a vindication of the Obama administration’s strategy in Libya after the president endured months of criticism for “leading from behind” and letting European allies take a more upfront role in fighting Kadafi’s forces, a former adviser to Obama said. “The administration is entirely vindicated,’’ said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution who has advised three presidents on the Middle East and south Asia. “They said from the beginning that the primary actor here needed to be the Libyans and they weren’t going to put boots on the ground.’’ After briefly...

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. (AP) -- Following a day of dramatic developments in Libya, President Barack Obama said Sunday night that the situation there had reached a "tipping point" and that control of the capital was "slipping from the grasp of a tyrant." He called on Moammar Gadhafi to accept reality and relinquish power.

A Libyan mourner fires shots in the air at a cemetery on August 12 during the funeral of five rebels killed in the battle for the control of the oil-rich town of Brega. Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Rebels said Saturday that they were gaining traction in a series of offensives in several parts of Libya controlled by ruler Moammar Gadhafi -- claims that the Libyan government swiftly disputed. Heavy gunfire was heard in al-Zawiya, located about 33 miles west of Tripoli, where rebels had arrived. Rebels entered the city center and managed to cut off the road to Tripoli, they...

Libyan rebels carry the coffin of assassinated Army Chief Abdel Fatah Younis on July 29 in Benghazi, Libya. Even as it prepares to hand over the Libyan embassy in Washington to the rebel government, the State Department is warning the Transitional National Council to get its act together. An administration official told CNN the United States has warned the TNC that this is a "do-or-die moment" for the organization to carry out a credible and thorough investigation of the killing of its military commander, Abdel Fatah Younis. Last week's mysterious assassination has raised concerns that it might have been carried...

The UK is to expel all employees of the Libyan Embassy, Sky sources have said, in a move likely to increase Muammar Gaddafi's isolation. There are eight staff members who work at the embassy in Knightsbridge, west London, Sky understands. Foreign editor Tim Marshall said the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) would replace the Gaddafi workers. "This is the official British confirmation and when all the existing Gaddafi staff are out, the NTC representatives in London will come in, and they will be officially recognised as representing the state of Libya," he said. More to follow...

<p>With their Libya bombing campaign dragging on unresolved, France and Britain have been forced to accept ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi may stay there if he quits power, despite calls for international justice.</p> <p>Britain denied the joint position was a climb-down after it had repeatedly called for him to quit the country, while France last week was the first to openly suggest he could stay under a negotiated settlement.</p>

Gaddafi insists he will neither step down nor flee the country he has led for four decades. With the Nato-led air campaign against Gaddafi's forces entering its fifth month and the fighting in a stalemate, the international community is seeking exit strategies. French President Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris on Wednesday with three rebel leaders from the western port city of Misurata who are seeking aid and arms to move toward Tripoli. Sarkozy announced no specific measures in response. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France wants to keep "a very close link" with the rebels "to see how we can...

Libyan rebel leaders met with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy here on Wednesday and asked him to support their plans to mount a military offensive on Tripoli aimed at toppling Col. Moammar Gadhafi. The delegation of rebel chiefs, which included senior officers from the port city of Misrata and a member of Libya's National Transitional Council, the main opposition group to Col. Gadhafi, said they needed more weapons and logistical assistance to oust the North African autocrat. "With a little help from some friends, we will be in Tripoli very soon, within days," NTC member Souleiman Fortia told reporters after the...

World leaders on Friday told a UN special envoy to negotiate a peace deal with Col Gaddafi that could see Libyan leader stay in the country after stepping down. Abdul Elah al-Khatib, the special envoy, was asked by the Turkish foreign minister, host of a one-day summit attended by Nato and other leaders, to present a peace deal in the next two weeks. It would have to be negotiated first not only with Col Gaddafi but with the rebel leadership in Benghazi. Nato also increased the military and diplomatic pressure on the Gaddafi regime in careful mix of carrot and...

Four of the Senate’s top voices on foreign policy voiced their support Friday for the Obama administration’s move to formally recognize rebel leaders as the legitimate governing authority of Libya. “We welcome the Administration’s decision to recognize the Transitional National Council (TNC) as the legitimate governing authority of Libya,” said Republican Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) in a statement.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Rebel leaders won recognition as the legitimate government of Libya from the United States and other world powers on Friday in a major boost to the rebels' faltering campaign to oust Muammar Gaddafi. Recognition of the rebels, announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a meeting in Turkey of the international contact group on Libya, is an important diplomatic step which could unlock billions of dollars in frozen Libyan funds.

Outside Qawalish, Libyan rebels took cover on Wednesday during a rocket attack by loyalists of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. QAWALISH, Libya — Military forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi counterattacked and briefly recaptured this front-line town from opposition forces on Wednesday, but they were beaten back by a large rebel force late in the day. Though the battle was fluid and its outcome perhaps not final, by evening the fighting appeared to be confined to exchanges of rocket and mortar fire from a mile away or more and some skirmishing beyond the town’s eastern edge. Armed rebels roamed the abandoned town...

<p>Colonels and commanders who defected from Libya's military attended a ceremony in June to proclaim support for the revolution.</p> <p>RUJBAN, Libya — For months now, military leaders in the rebel capital, Benghazi, have boldly predicted lightning advances by their fighters and an imminent rout of the forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Tripoli that would finally snuff out his brutal four-decade rule.</p>

President Obama dismissed criticism of his Libya policy last week, saying, “A lot of this fuss is politics.” Regardless of action on Senate Joint Resolution 20, the McCain-Kerry plan to authorize the limited use of force in Libya, the more important issue is Mr. Obama’s unwillingness to own up to his decisions in his role as commander in chief. Mr. Obama took the country to war in Libya, and he should admit it. The fuss goes beyond politics, beyond whether Mr. Obama’s policies are in the U.S. national interest and even beyond whether American military action has been effective. The...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama told reporters he does not have to answer the question of whether the War Powers Resolution is constitutional.

New Libyan rebel recruits train near Benghazi. France today admitted arming rebels in partsof the country, in apparent defiance of the UN mandate Nato is reviewing the conduct of its military campaign in Libya after France admitted arming rebel fighters in apparent defiance of the UN mandate. The revelation surprised officials in Nato's headquarters in Brussels and raised awkward questions about whether the French had broken international law – UN resolution 1973 specifically allows Nato nations to protect civilians in Libya, but appears to stop short of permitting the provision of weapons. Nato has consistently said it would not arm...