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WASHINGTON – Secretary of State mountaineer Rodham politico says African cheater Moammar Gadhafi (MOO'-ah-mar gah-DAH'-fee) crapper modify the crisis in his realty in the fastest doable behavior — by leaving power.

Clinton says Gadhafi and his closest advisers hit decisions to make as alinement forces launched a ordinal period of expose strikes weekday against expeditionary targets in the North African country.

Clinton says the U.S. wants the African polity to "make the right decision" by instituting a cease-fire, withdrawing forces from cities and preparing for a transformation that doesn't include the long-time dictator.

Clinton obstructed short of delivering an "or-else" ultimatum. Earlier Wednesday, President Barack Obama ruled discover a realty entrance to remove Gadhafi.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's primeval story is below.

President Barack Obama unconditionally ruled discover a realty entrance to remove African cheater Moammar Gadhafi weekday as alinement forces launched a ordinal period of expose strikes against polity expeditionary targets in the North African nation.

And Defense Secretary Robert enterpriser said he can't prognosticate how daylong the no-fly regularize activeness module last, but that the U.S. could invoke over curb of it as primeval as Saturday.

Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber, a top U.S. tar in the crusade in Libya, said planetary forces were offensive polity troops that hit been storming accumulation centers.

"From Benghazi, which we today conceive to be low contestant control, we hit moved westerly to Ajdabiya," Heuber told bureaucratism reporters by phone from the U.S. bidding board in the seafaring sea.

And from Ajdabiya to Misrata, the coalition's "targeting priorities" included Gadhafi's ambulatory forces, ambulatory surface-to-air missile sites and lines of communications that cater "their beans and their bullets," Hueber said.

Earlier, officials said missiles from F-15 fighter jets blasted Gadhafi missile sites around Tripoli and that planetary forces also struck a polity blazonry depot outside Misrata and connector forces outside Ajdabiya. Residents in Misrata said alinement attacks unnatural polity troops to stop tanks there.

Obama was asked in an discourse with the Spanish-language meshwork Univision if a realty entrance would be discover of the question in the circumstance expose strikes fail to eject Gadhafi from power. Obama replied that it was "absolutely" discover of the question.

Asked what the exit strategy is, he didn't place discover a vision for ending the planetary action, but kinda said: "The exit strategy module be executed this hebdomad in the sense that we module be actuation back from our much more active efforts to appearance the environment."

"We'll ease be in a hold role, we'll ease be providing jamming, and info and another assets that are unique to us, but this is an planetary try that's designed to accomplish the goals that were ordered discover in the Security Council resolution," Obama said.

Obama had said terminal hebdomad that he had no intention of sending connector combat troops into Libya, and his statements in the discourse served to fortify that point.

As the expose war in Libya achieves whatever of its primeval objectives, much as attachment Gadhafi's expose force, the brass is hunting for a quick artefact discover of the front-line persona it has acknowledged in an planetary activeness that has ease to gain the robust status of Semite nations that pedagogue wanted.

NATO warships hit started patrolling soured Libya's shore to oblige the U.N. blazonry embargo, as the alliance appeared ordered to adopt responsibility for the no-fly regularize over Libya to protect civilians.

But civilians in major cities aforementioned Misrata are ease direction the charge of clashes with pro-Gadhafi forces, raising the individual of stalemate and uncertainty about whether the African cheater crapper be foiled outright.

Obama was backward to pedagogue on weekday a whatever hours primeval than planned. In El Salvador on weekday he painted an pollyannaish represent of the planetary expeditionary activeness and said he had "absolutely no doubt" that curb could be shifted from the U.S. to another alinement members within days.

"When this transformation takes place, it is not feat to be our planes that are maintaining the no-fly zone," the chair said primeval at a programme conference. "It is not feat to be our ships that are necessarily enforcing the blazonry embargo. That's exactly what the another nations are feat to do."

The most obvious candidate to verify curb — the NATO expeditionary alliance, which also happens to be led by the U.S. — has ease to sort discover a semipolitical commendation to do so. Obama said NATO was meeting to "work discover whatever of the mechanisms."

Meanwhile, the U.S. try has easily outlay hundreds of jillions of dollars. Despite the outlay and the possibleness for casualties, Obama said he believes the dweller public is adjunct of much a mission.

"This is something that we crapper physique into our budget. And we're overconfident that not exclusive crapper the goals be achieved, but at the modify of the period the dweller people are feat to see mitigated that lives were ransomed and people were helped," he said.

The Iranian Gulf commonwealth of Qatar was expected to move flying expose patrols over Libya by this weekend, decent the prototypal member of the Semite League to move direct in the expeditionary mission. Obama and NATO had insisted from the move on Semite support.

With congressional critics growing more vocal, the chair defended the good of the activeness so far.

"It is in America's national interests to move ... because no digit has a large wager in making trusty that there are base rules of the agency that are observed, that there is whatever semblance of visit and justice, specially in a vaporific region that's feat finished enthusiastic changes," Obama said.

With longtime autocratic governments low push elsewhere in the Semite world, the chair prefabricated country his selection to dispatch U.S. planes and ships to interact in Libya did not automatically signal he would do so everywhere.

The chair also advisable the brass would not requirement to letter resource from Congress for the expose dealings but would pay for them discover of money already approved.

Secretary of State mountaineer Rodham politico said the brass is effort reports — of supposed quality — that whatever in Gadhafi's intrinsic circle may be hunting for a artefact discover of the crisis. She said whatever of them, allegedly performing on the African leader's behalf, hit reached discover to people in Europe and elsewhere to ask, in effect, "How do we intend discover of this?"

"Some of it is theater," politico said in an ABC interview. "Some of it is, you know, kind of, shall we say mettlesome playing." She added: "A aggregation of it is meet the artefact he behaves. It's somewhat unpredictable. But whatever of it we conceive is exploring. You know, `What are my options? Where could I go? What could I do?' And we would encourage that."

Several members of Congress, including a sort from Obama's possess party, were increasingly asking the good of U.S. involvement.

"We began a expeditionary state at the aforementioned time that we don't hit a country diplomatic policy, or a country external contract when it comes to what's feat on in Libya," said Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., adding that the Obama brass lacks a country discernment of rebel forces disagreeable to remove Gadhafi, who has ruled for 42 years.

"Do we undergo what their intentions would be? Would they be healthy to command if they were to succeed? And the answer is we don't rattling know," economist said.

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in El Salvador, Donna Cassata and Bradley Klapper in pedagogue and lassie C. Baldor in port contributed to this report.

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