US President Barack Obama defended his country’s military action in Libya and indicated that it would now move to a supporting role in the intervention.
In a speech early yesterday designed to build up popular opinion about the action, Mr Obama said the US was fulfilling its pledge to have a “limited role” in the operation.
“For those who doubted our capacity to carry out this operation, I want to be clear – the US has done what we said we would do,” he said.
Mr Obama said Nato – which has already taken over responsibility for enforcing the arms embargo and no-fly zone – would take full command of all military operations.
Justifying the military action in recent weeks, the president conceded that the US could not use its armed forces “wherever repression occurs”, but stressed that, in this instance, “we were faced the with prospect of violence on a horrific scale”.
He added: “To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and more profoundly our responsibilities to our fellow human beings in other such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are.”
He said he was “convinced” a failure to act would have “carried a far greater price for America”.
While he said there was “no question” Libya and the world would be better off without Muammar Gaddafi in power, he stressed he would “actively pursue that goal through non-military means”.
“But broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake,” Mr Obama added.
In his speech at the National Defence University in Washington, Mr Obama said the US would “continue to support the aspirations of the Libyan people” as the bulk of its military efforts wound down.
He said: “We will deny the regime arms, cut off its supplies of cash, assist the opposition and work with other nations to hasten the day when Col. Gaddafi leaves power.
“It may not happen overnight, as a badly weakened Gaddafi tries desperately to hang on to power, but it should be clear to those around and Col. Gaddafi and to every Libyan that history is not on Mr Gaddafi’s side.”
However, he warned that Libya would “remain dangerous” until Col. Gaddafi stepped down from power and that the transition to a legitimate government would be a “difficult task”.
“While the US will do our part to help, it will be a task for the international community, and more importantly a task for the Libyan people themselves,” he added.