After two weeks of revolution and the deaths of thousands of Libyans, the Obama administration is starting to contemplate military action against the brutal Libyan regime of Moammar Gadhafi.
The United Nations Security Council has already sanctioned Gadhafi and referred him to the International Criminal Court following his violent suppression of Libya's revolutionary movement, creating the contours of a hardening international position against Gadhafi. And now most U.S. nationals in Libya have now fled, removing what the Obama administration has considered an impediment to action.
So here comes the Navy. The Enterprise carrier strike group, last seen hunting pirates, is in the Red Sea -- and may sail through Suez to the Mediterranean -- and the New York Times reports that an "amphibious landing vessel, with Marines and helicopters" are there as well. The Financial Times adds that the British are considering the use of the air base at Akrotiri in Cyprus as a staging ground to enforce a no-fly zone. Any envisioned military action is likely to be a multilateral affair, either blessed by the U.N. or NATO.
That seems to be the harshest policy yet envisioned -- one explicitly discussed today by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (No one's discussing a ground invasion.) For the time being, the Navy is simply moving assets into place in case President Obama decides to take more punitive measures against Gadhafi. Marine Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters today, "We are re-positioning forces in the region to provide options and flexibility."
The rhetorical groundwork is getting laid as well. Asked if the U.S. had ruled out arming the rebel Libyan forces, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said today, "I don’t think we've ruled out anything at this point, but we'll be monitoring this day to day and we'll take appropriate steps."
A coalition of foreign policy experts, mostly conservatives but some liberals, urged Obama last week to impose a no-fly zone and move naval assets near Libyan waters. Obama looks like he's heeding its call. And if so, it looks like Defense Secretary Robert Gates' Friday prediction of a sea-and-air-based military future might get vindicated rather quickly.
Photo: DoD
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