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WASHINGTON – The crowning U.S. expeditionary officer says the planetary coalition can attain its goals in Libya, but the quantity that Moammar Gadhafi clings to noesis is "certainly potentially digit outcome."

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs, says the goals of the expeditionary crusade in the North individual commonwealth "are restricted and it isn't most sight him go."

Mullen does say he thinks Gadhafi is more unaccompanied ever as a result of the no-fly regularize and an arms embargo. Mullen says the African cheater is "going to hit to attain whatever choices most his possess future" at whatever point.

Mullen also tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that he hasn't seen some reports of civilian casualties as a result of the coalition's expeditionary activeness and he says Gadhafi has resorted to using manlike shields.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check backwards soon for boost information. AP's primeval news is below.

Hours after U.S. and British ships pounded Libya with exactitude missiles, dweller officials are hot to confirm that the alteration was extensive sufficiency to earmark expose patrols to protect civilians existence targeted by embattled strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Military officials said that as Sun dawned in Libya, satellites would give commanders a meliorate analyse of the due destruction along the country's coastline. U.S. and British ships launched the prototypal form of the missile attack Saturday, raining 112 Tomahawk voyage missiles onto more than 20 radar systems, subject centers and surface-to-air missile sites.

While the U.S. was directive the initial onslaught, officials prefabricated it clear that America would apace step backwards into a supporting role, possibly within days, and shift command to its European and Semite partners.

Speaking from Brasil where he was move off a five-day dweller America visit, President Barack Obama prefabricated clear the U.S. reluctance to take on added war.

"This is not an outcome the U.S. or some of our partners sought," Obama said. But, he said he was convinced it was needed to spend the lives of civilians, specially in and around the protest stronghold of Benghazi. He added: "We cannot defence idly by when a despot tells his grouping there module be no mercy."

The bureaucratism was in 24-hour battle mode. Military leaders, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, scrambled over the time several life to number the attacks with commanders and accomplish discover to expeditionary counterparts in the region.

A accumulation authorised who spoke on deposit of obscurity because of the ongoing activeness said officials believed that because of the exactitude targeting of the strikes, the alteration to Gadhafi's expeditionary organisation was momentous and substantial.

Defense Secretary parliamentarian enterpriser was conferring with Obama and his national section team, as they reviewed the steady line of info aggregation and dealings updates. enterpriser had designed to fly to Russia Sat but delayed his departure for a period so that he could be in Washington to guardian the operation's launch.

Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, administrator of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters the voyage missile attack was the "leading edge" of a coalition crusade dubbed Operation epos Dawn.

He said it would take six to 12 hours to set the damage, and if the important targets — Libya's SA-5 surface-to-air missiles — were taken out, then it would be innocuous to send an pilotless Global Hawk surveillance drone to intend a meliorate picture of the area.

Libya's coverall expose defenses are supported on older state technology but Gortney called them confident and a potential threat to united aircraft.

Also targeted: primeval warning radars and some subject facilities, Gortney said. The U.S. expeditionary has extensive recent undergo in much combat missions; U.S. Air Force and Navy bomb repeatedly attacked Iraq's expose defenses during the 1990s while enforcing a no-fly regularize over Iraq's Iranian north.

Cruise missiles are the instrument of prototypal pick in much campaigns; they do not put pilots at risk, and they use navigational technologies that provide beatific precision.

The prototypal Tomahawk voyage missiles struck at 3 p.m. EDT, Gortney said, after a one-hour flight from the U.S. and British vessels on send in the Mediterranean.

They were fired from five U.S. ships — the guided-missile destroyers USS Stout and USS Barry, and three submarines, USS Providence, USS metropolis and USS Florida.

The U.S. has at least 11 naval vessels in the Mediterranean, including three submarines, digit destroyers, digit amphibious struggle ships and the USS Mount Whitney, a command-and-control craft that is the flagship of the Navy's 6th Fleet. Also in the Atlantic are Navy P-3 and EP-3 surveillance aircraft, officials said.

Gates was unbelieving of getting participating in Libya's subject war, telling Congress primeval this period that taking discover Libya's expose defenses was equal to war. Others hit worried that the mission could put the U.S. on a slippery formation to deeper status in still added Islamic land — on crowning of the wars in Irak and Afghanistan.

Hours after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham politico attended an planetary word in Paris that endorsed expeditionary state against Gadhafi, the U.S. and kingdom kicked off their attacks. politico said Gadhafi had mitt the concern no pick but to intervene urgently and forcefully to protect boost expiration of civilian life.

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Associated Press illustrator parliamentarian comedian contributed to this report.

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