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NATO takes over war from US
The day before US President Barack Obama was to address the nation on Libya on Monday his forces handed over responsibility of Operation Odyssey Dawn entirely to NATO forces.
Just the day before US President Barack Obama was to address the nation on Libya on Monday his forces handed over responsibility of Operation Odyssey Dawn entirely to NATO forces, every aspect of it.
“From this moment on forward, NATO will be in command not only of the no-fly zone, not only of enforcing the arms embargo, but now also of the civilian protection mission,” said a senior administration official.
Obama has been under considerable pressures lately to explain why the US went to war against Libya – firing Tomahawk cruise missiles in initially – without seeking the US congress’s permission.
His defense has been simply this, as echoed by secretaries Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates, that the US was merely implementing an UNSC resolution and that it was not a full-fledged war.
Clinton and Gates hit the airwaves on Sunday in a string of interviews to defend the administration’s approach on Libya and also project to the country and the world a united approach.
