Posted on 04/01/2011 3:15:32 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
An operation billed as a humanitarian intervention in Libya by President Obama was described in starkly more military terms Thursday by the administration’s top two defense officials.
[snip]
In his testimony, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, blamed the rebels’ losses in recent days on the heavy cloud cover in Libya, which has prevented U.S. and allied jets from attacking Gaddafi’s ground forces.
...Although Gates said that unseating Gaddafi was not the stated goal of the military mission, he made clear that the United States and its allies intended to use military force to aid the Libyan opposition and compel Gaddafi and his inner circle to surrender.
“I mean we’re blowing up [Gaddafi’s] ammunition supplies,” Gates said in separate testimony before the House. “He can’t resupply from abroad...over time, that should work to the advantage of those in the opposition.”
In the House, lawmakers from both parties berated Gates over the cost of the mission, its undetermined length and what they said were its fuzzy goals. In the Senate, there was more support for the intervention, with several lawmakers saying they worried that the United States was not doing enough to oust Gaddafi.
The militaristic language used by Gates and Mullen prompted some lawmakers who oppose the intervention to accuse the Obama administration of misleading the public about its aims in Libya. “It seems to me, and I think everybody else, that we are clearly involved in regime change,” said Sen. James Webb (D-Va.).
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) said the administration’s efforts to label the Libya mission a humanitarian intervention were dishonest. “This is the most muddled definition of an operation probably in U.S. military history,” he said. “To say this is not about regime change is crazy. Of course, it is about regime change.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Yes Barry... remind us again what you did to earn that prize?
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