Int'l community should ready Libya no-fly zone-Kerry

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

Int'l community should ready Libya no-fly zone-Kerry

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The international community should be ready to implement a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on his own civilians, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said on Wednesday.

"A no-fly zone is not a long-term proposition ... and I believe we ought to be ready to implement it as necessary," Kerry said at the beginning of a committee hearing which will include testimony from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.


Read more: http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFWAT01492220110302

[Bragi]

1. I hear the war drums beating... /nt

[ProSense]

2. Here's more of Kerry's statement

Clinton says 'nothing off the table' in confronting Gadhafi

<...>

Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Clinton says the military is prepared to support humanitarian efforts to deal with refugees.

In his opening remarks, committee chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., expressed strong support for a no-fly zone for Libya if events warrant, USA TODAY's Mimi Hall reports.

"We have joined with allies in making clear that Col. Qadhafi must go," Kerry says. "He has lost all legitimacy. We cannot be half way about that goal. The people of Libya do not ask for or need foreign troops on the ground. They are committed to doing what is necessary, but they do need the tools to prevent the slaughter of innocents on Libyan Streets and, I believe the global community cannot be on the sidelines while airplanes are allowed to bomb and strafe."

Kerry said a no-fly zone "is not a long-term proposition and we should be ready to implement it as necessary."

[David__77]

3. How is it not a "long-term proposition?"

Of course it is. It's an at-a-distance war against Libya, just as the no fly zone in Iraq was a protracted war against that country. The US will then become bogged down in the morass of northern Africa.