U.S., allies’ jets poised to fly over Libya as other nations mull strategy

By Karen DeYoung,
WashPost
Friday, March 18

The planned military action in Libya marks a rare international intervention in which U.S. forces will not take the lead operational role.

With French, British and United Arab Emirates jets poised to begin flights over Libya, and other European and Arab forces assembling to aid enforcement of a no-fly zone, the Americans were far from the pending action, in ships offshore and surveillance aircraft high above.

President Obama, in an East Room statement on Friday, described U.S. tasks as “shaping” and “enabling” operations, which administration officials said would include sea-launched strikes on Libyan air defenses to make the skies safe for others and command-and-control functions.

“I also want to be clear about what we will not be doing,” Obama said. “The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya. And we are not going to use force to go beyond a well-defined goal — specifically the protection of civilians in Libya.”

(More here.)