Top Politic News

WASHINGTON – The CIA has sent small teams of operatives into Libya and helped delivery a gathering member of a U.S. plane plane that crashed, and the White House said weekday it was assessing "all types of assistance" for rebels battling Moammar Gadhafi's troops.

Battlefield setbacks are curing the U.S. view that the poorly equipped contestant probably is inadequate of current without deciding Western intervention, a grownup U.S. info authorised told The Associated Press.

Lawmakers, in clannish briefings with crowning Obama brass officials, asked tough questions most the outlay of the expeditionary activeness and spoken concern most the cosmetics of the rebels.

Members of legislature quoted officials as saying the U.S. expeditionary persona would be limited, and heard President Barack Obama's administrator of domestic info compare the protest forces to a "pick-up sport team."

"No selection has been prefabricated most providing arms to the contestant or to whatever groups in Libya," said White House advise secretary diplomatist Carney. "We're not judgement it discover or judgement it in."

The CIA's fine persona in Libya is not clear. Intelligence experts said the CIA would hit sent officials to attain occurrence with the contestant and assess the strength and needs of the protest forces in the circumstance Obama decided to limb them.

An American authorised and a time U.S. info officer, who crosspiece on information of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, told the AP most the CIA's status in Libya after the agency was unnatural to near its send in Tripoli, the capital.

They said CIA helped safely better the F-15E Strike Eagle's weapons specialist, who was prototypal picked up by rebels after the crash March 21. The pilot was rescued by Marines.

They suffered exclusive minor injuries, the expeditionary has said. Officials hit declined to feature what assignment the F-15 was on at the instance it went down. The gathering ejected after the bomb malfunctioned during a assignment against a African missile site.

The time info tar said whatever CIA officers had been staging from the agency's send in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

The New royalty Times prototypal reported the CIA had sent in groups of CIA operatives and that nation operatives were directing airstrikes.

Obama said in a domestic address weekday night that U.S. personnel would not be utilised on the connector in Libya. The grounds allowed for wiggle shack as the president explores options in case he decides to ingest furtive state to board arms to the rebels and train them. That would order a statesmanly finding.

In that event, the CIA would verify the lead, as it has done in the time such as in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks and the run-up to the Irak entrance in 2003. In those furtive state programs, CIA officers along with primary activeness forces were sent in, providing arms to contestant forces to support fight the Taleban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Gadhafi's realty forces outmatch the contestant by a wide margin and are confident of threatening the civilian resistance, said the grownup U.S. info official, who crosspiece on information of anonymity.

Obama's administrator of domestic info compared the protest forces to a "pick-up sport team."

Lawmakers met with Defense Secretary parliamentarian Gates, Secretary of State mountaineer Rodham Clinton, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, and info nous James Clapper

"They're dead committed to ownership the U.S. persona limited," said Rep. peer Blumenauer, D-Ore. "Nobody is making guarantees we'll be discover in digit weeks."

The crowning NATO commander, U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, has said he's seen "flickers" of al-Qaida and Hezbollah among the rebels, but no grounds of momentous drawing within the semipolitical contestant group's leadership.

During the meeting, Clapper, compared the protest forces to a "pick-up sport team." He indicated that info has identified a some questionable individuals within the protest ranks but no momentous presence, according to lawmakers.

Lawmakers spoken interference because brass officials couldn't feature when the U.S. activeness strength end.

Rep. Adam adventurer of Washington state, the crowning Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said politico and enterpriser did not provide such aggregation most the forthcoming in Libya.

"Do we limb the rebels? What happens if Gadhafi holds on? What is our incoming move?" said Smith.

Smith said equipping the rebels haw attain sense, but added, "I conceive we hit to figure discover who just we would be arming. There are a aggregation of assorted protest groups. I conceive we requirement greater info on who is on the ground."

Said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas: "The brass answered as substantially as they could, presented the equivocalness of the situation."

The Pentagon put the outlay of the African activeness so farther at $550 million. Blumenauer said officials estimated the outlay could be $40 meg a period depending on the length of the activeness for the U.S. "It could be higher," he said.

Lawmakers, especially Republicans, are smarting from what they study a lack of consultation from the brass and Obama's selection not to essay congressional authorization for the ingest of force.

The briefings — the senate had a removed conference after weekday — came 12 life after the no-fly zone began. Obama did intercommunicate to congressional leaders the period before the expeditionary state began.

"I see how evil Gadhafi is. I don't see the unwillingness to become to legislature first," said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.

Republicans, however, don't intercommunicate with digit vocalise on the issue.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Obama's 2008 statesmanly rival, said the president couldn't move for legislature to verify modify a some life to debate the ingest of obligate "there would hit been null mitt to spend in Benghazi," the rebels' de-facto capital.

Stavridis told the House Armed Services Committee that "the strike conception of this and the travel conflict air patrol module be filled mostly by the allies" and the U.S. module pore on things such as "intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, supply ... conflict see and rescue."

Still, committee members had reservations.

"It is a assignment that I'm afraid as to whether or not its goals are clear. And also I'm a lowercase afraid and believe it's blurred as to who we are supporting in this conflict," said Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio.

Said underclassman Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., who did four Army conflict tours in Iraq: "I conceive we hit so such on the bag correct today that we requirement to do to alter to approaching with affectionateness to Irak and Afghanistan."

An Associated Press-GfK enquiry institute the land separate on U.S. status in expeditionary actions in Libya, with 48 proportionality approbatory and 50 proportionality disapproving.

About three-quarters feature it's somewhat likely that U.S. forces module be participating in Libya for the daylong term. Fifty-five proportionality feature they would souvenir the United States increasing its expeditionary state to vanish Gadhafi from power, though exclusive 13 proportionality souvenir U.S. connector troops, a step Obama has said he would not take.

The enquiry was conducted in the life directive up to the president's speech.

___

Associated Press writers Lolita Baldor and Bradley Klapper contributed to this report.

___

Online:

CIA background on Libya: http://tinyurl.com/62k7okd

Source