NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

President Obama: There Will Be No American Troops on The Ground in Libya

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today highlighted that the President has made it very clear that there will be no American troops on the ground in Libya during an interview with David Gregory of NBC's Meet the Press.

The air power has significantly degraded Qadhafi's armor capabilities. Ms. Clinton added that the coalition saw the Libyan forces beginning to move back to the west.

"I think that the no-fly zone aspect of the mission has been accomplished. We have not seen any of his planes fly since the mission started. We have suppressed his air defenses. I think we've also been successful on the humanitarian side. We have prevented his forces from going to Benghazi and we have taken out a good bit of his armor. So I think we have, to a very large extent, completed the military mission in terms of getting it set up. Now, the no-fly zone and even the humanitarian side will have to be sustained for some period of time."-Secretary Gates

Ms. Clinton also pointed out that Qadhafi's efforst have been stopped. The coalition efforts have prevented a great humanitarian disaster.

The coalition are also pursuing really strict economic sanctions on Qadhafi and the people close to him. The coalition have a political effort underway, Ms. Clinton added.

Source: U.S. Department of State