Qatar News Agency (QNA)
Obama: Toppling Gaddafi Not Ultimate Goal of Military Action
Washington, March 29 (QNA) - More than a week after U.S.-led bombing began in Libya, President Barack Obama laid out his case for action to the nation Monday night, saying a peaceful Libya is in the best interests of the United States. "For generations, the United States of American has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and advocate for human freedom," he said. "Mindful of the risks and costs of military action, we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world''s many challenges. But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act." Citing the freezing of Gaddafi''s $33 billion in assets as well as UN-imposed sanctions and an arms embargo, the president highlighted peaceful attempts to end the violence, but said that ultimately, "the world faced a choice" when Gaddafi declared he would show "no mercy" to his people and threatened to inflict door-to-door punishment. "We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world," he said. "It was not in our national interest to let that happen. I refused to let that happen." Obama, speaking at the National Defense University in Washington, said that American and coalition forces have "stopped Gaddafi''s deadly advance" while at the same time, limiting U.S. involvement, which includes not putting American ground troops into Libya. A full transfer of operations from the United States to NATO will take place on Wednesday and Obama said the United States would take more of a supporting role in the days to come. Obama painted military action not only as a last resort, but as a moral responsibility. "To brush aside America''s responsibly as a leader and - more profoundly - our responsibility to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are," he said. "Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action." He made clear, however, that while regime change is in the best interest of Libya, it is not the ultimate goal of military action. Obama said he and other world leaders would "actively pursue it through non-military means" but that including regime change as part of the military mission would be a mistake. "If we tried to overthrow Gaddafi by force, our coalition would splinter. We would likely have to put U.S. 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," he said.(QNA)
http://www.qnaol.net/QNAEn/Foreign_News/Politics2/Pages/ObamaTopplingGaddafiNotUltimateGoalofMilitaryAction.aspx
Also from QNA
HE Premier Attends London Conference on Libya
London, March 29 (QNA) - HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani attended here today the international conference on Libya being held at the invitation of UK Foreign Minister William Hague. The Conference discussed the humanitarian needs of the Libyan people and ways to back and meet their aspirations. HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani addressed the conference and explained that the State of Qatar has provided humanitarian assistance to the Libyan people, and participated in the military effort aimed at imposing the no-fly zone over Libya, as well as transported many people who were unable to return to their home countries because of the violence. He added that the State of Qatar has recently recognized the Libyan National Transition Council as the sole people''s legitimate representative, adding that this emanates from the conviction that the Council, including its representatives in different areas in Libya, has become practically the representative of the Libyan people. He expressed his hope to see Libyan Leader Muammar Gadhafi stepping down and leaving Libya and a cessation of bloodshed there. HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister made a reference to the request by the League of Arab States to impose no-fly zone over Libya in order to protect the civilian population, as well as the strong request by the African Union to put an end to the violence, adding that the UN Security Council Resolution No. 1973 called for an immediate cease-fire and cessation of all attacks on civilians as well as asked for access to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Libyan people. His Excellency said that the UN-mandated military actions taken during the past few days curtailed to a large extent the capabilities of the Gaddafi regime, and provided protection to the civilians from possible massacres by Gaddafi regime.
The participants reviewed of the international conference on Libya discussed in London today the progress made towards imposing the no-fly zone over Libya, in addition to the steps taken to avoid casualties among civilians. They also reviewed the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 of 2011. The Conference decided to form a liaison group of the participating countries to undertake the political leadership of the international intervention in Libya. HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, UK Foreign Minister William Hague, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe attended the conference. (QNA)
http://www.qnaol.net/QNAEn/Local_News/Politics1/Pages/HEPremierAttendsLondonConferenceonLibya.aspx
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