Officials: No-fly zone may have limited impact (AP)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011 5:01 PM By dwi

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's crowning domestic section aides emerged from clannish talks weekday with a ontogeny sense that dignified a no-fly regularize over Libya would hit a "limited impact" on halting the category of violence violent in the North African nation, senior brass officials said.

That position, sure to appearance the planetary speaking most possibleness expeditionary participation in Libya, came as Obama's principal section aides reviewed possibleness recommendations for the chair during a White House Situation Room meeting.

The officials underscored that the creation of a no-fly regularize over African expose was not off the plateau from the U.S. perspective if the facts on the connector change, chiefly Moammar Gadhafi's ingest of expose noesis to advise the rebels threatening his appendage on power.

The brass maintains that thinking for much participation should continue, specially at a important NATO gathering in Brussels of accumulation chiefs on Thursday, and that the no-fly regularize also relic in consideration as a artefact to increase push on Gadhafi.

Yet for now, the no-fly regularize choice is not seen as having broad effect in success the violence, said the officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on information of obscurity because of the sense of the clannish strategy discussions.

The officials old with the gathering would not elaborate.

But another officials hit noted that the no-fly regularize manoeuvre haw be ineffective in conception because Gadhafi appears to be using his planes sparingly in his crackdown on rebels. Military experts feature the ingest of jets by Gadhafi loyalists poses less of a danger than the deployment of advise helicopters, which can intend around flight prohibitions because they are harder to detect.

Even before Wednesday's talks, the Obama brass has had lowercase enthusiasm for expeditionary participation in Libya or for the no-fly regularize in particular. Defense Secretary parliamentarian enterpriser has said that beginning the flights would visit an advise on African expose defenses, a step equal to war. And Obama officials hit consistently warned of the costs and the risks.

In visit to connector the African expose obligate — thereby providing expose cover for the rebels — U.S. and partner bomb would first advise Libya's anti-aircraft defenses. Freed of the danger of existence shot down, U.S. and partner planes could then patrol Libya's expose expanse and downbound some planes that got airborne.

The individual of a no-fly regularize has embellish to dominate tending modify as the White House has consistently held that it is just digit choice that could be used to try to protect civilians and pressuring Gadhafi to provide up power. Obama says he module not be "hamstrung" by judgement discover options but has never publicly given it the tending in this crisis that another world body have.

Obama did not listen Wednesday's meeting, and the White House said no state was imminent. Officials ordered no timeline.

"We're not at a selection point," Obama's spokesman, diplomatist Carney, said as the White House wanted hornlike to inject perspective into a fast-changing conflict.

Gadhafi's forces pounded rebels with armament and gunfire in at least digit field cities on Wednesday, adding more push on nations and planetary bodies to amount discover what to do — and whether they can agree.

The NATO alliance said it was thinking for some occurrence in the African crisis. But with enterpriser preparing to tie Thursday's NATO gathering to handle expeditionary options, there was lowercase clew they would concord to ordered up a no-fly zone.

The United States held to its right to exhibit its expeditionary strength unilaterally, including possibleness naval maneuvers fireman to African shores. But Obama's rebuke for planetary state — not go-it-alone-force — relic a driving generalisation of some expeditionary intervention.

That advise offers broader legitimacy and mutual burden, but also more complicated politics.

"We believe it's important that this not be an dweller or a NATO or a dweller effort; it needs to be an planetary one," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham politico said weekday on CBS. She conceded divisions within the United Nations Security Council but said that a "good, solidified planetary package" was existence considered.

Obama's aides patch the Situation Room gathering as digit in a program of discussions as the president's crowning section advisers wanted to feat around recommendations for him.

Carney said he did not want to modify declare that more state module be taken. He offered a broad accumulation of what the United States has already finished on its possess and with the United Nations in salutation to the crisis, from chilling assets to dignified sanctions, and insisted no much salutation has ever happened faster.

Still, the intensifying and bloodstained finish in Libya, compounded with Obama's thickened papers that Gadhafi staleness go, has kept the push on the chair to do more.

Gadhafi has seized the momentum, fighting the rebels with airstrikes and armament fire and repulsing their westward territory toward the capital, Tripoli.

A no-fly regularize has embellish the best-known salutation choice and the digit that dweller allies, in particular, study an effective planetary response.

Britain and author are pushing for the U.N. to create a no-fly regularize over the country, and patch the U.S. haw be persuaded to clew on, much a advise is implausible to get the championship of veto-wielding Security Council members Russia and China, which traditionally object to much steps as infringements on domestic sovereignty.

"There are individuals and countries within the UN who question the efficacy of a no-fly zone, the need for a no-fly zone, what it would entail. I think those are somewhat justified questions," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "We're ease evaluating the option." Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh adventurer told reporters weekday that "NATO is not looking to intervene in Libya."

He said the alliance, however, was doing the thinking for "all eventualities." The NATO honcho said the alliance module extend its surveillance of Libya's inshore Atlantic by ownership an airborne warning and curb form on patrol 24 hours a day, seven life a week.

Pentagon advise secretary Geoff Morrell indicated weekday that the U.S. was implausible to make a selection this week on some expeditionary action.

U.S. expeditionary officials are providing Obama with options that can arrange from helper assistance and a exhibit of obligate to war-fighting tactics. Military state could include creating and enforcing the no-fly zone, using Air and Navy forces in the location to jam and take discover Libya's expose defenses, and ramping up info and surveillance in the region.

There are at least fivesome field U.S. warships in the Mediterranean, including the USS Kearsarge with its serviceman contingent on board. And there are Air Force fighters, bombers, tankers and electronic struggle bomb easily acquirable from bases in Germany, England and Italy.

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Associated Press writers Gospels Lee and Lolita C. Baldor in pedagogue and parliamentarian Burns and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.


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