Epress.am News from Armenia
US President Barack Obama says that Libya and the world would be better off with Moammar Gadhafi out of power, but that the goal will be pursued without broadening the mission to include regime change, reports Canada’s CBC news.
In a televised speech Monday night in Washington, D.C., Obama said the US-led military mission in Libya had “a responsibility to act” to avert the mass slaughter of civilians.
“We were faced with the prospect of violence on a horrific scale,” he said.
But the president reiterated that the US was committed to the UN resolution to protect Libyan civilians and had no intention of removing Gadhafi.
“If we tried to overthrow Gadhafi by force, our coalition would splinter. We would likely have to put US troops on the ground, or risk killing many civilians from the air. The dangers faced by our men and women in uniform would be far greater. So would the costs, and our share of the responsibility for what comes next.
“To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq. … But regime change there took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives, and nearly a trillion dollars. That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya.”
Obama said that the US would play a supporting role in the NATO-based coalition, which would reduce the risk to the American military and his country’s taxpayers.
“I said that America’s role would be limited; that we would not put ground troops into Libya; that we would focus our unique capabilities on the front end of the operation, and that we would transfer responsibility to our allies and partners. Tonight, we are fulfilling that pledge.”
Obama said the responsibility for commanding enforcement of the arms embargo and no-fly zone, as well as the responsibility for protecting Libyan civilians, would be passed from the US to NATO on Wednesday.