US Shifts Anti-Gaddafi Operation in Libya to European Allies

A US Navy handout made available on 28 March 2011 shows a Harrier jet aircraft while conducting air strikes supporting Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn on 21 March 2011. EPA/BGNES

Two weeks after the start of Operation Odyssey Dawn against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the USA is ending its combat role in Libya.

Starting Sunday, no US combat aircraft are to participate in air strike missions in Libya, after US combat aircraft flew 24 strike missions Saturday, the Pentagon said as cited by international media. US naval vessels firing Tomahawk missiles from the Mediterranean against Libyan targets are also being withdrawn.

NATO's on-scene commander can request US strikes but those will have to be approved by Washington.

The US is withdrawing from the military effort for enforcing a UN-backed no-fly zone in Libya just four days after NATO formally took over the command from the US-led international coalition.

The United States is following through on a pledge to shift the main combat burden to Britain, France, and other NATO allies as the regime of dictator Muammar Gaddafi continues to fight a popular uprising.

US planes and naval vessels will be on standby in case NATO commanders decide their forces cannot handle the mission alone.

The international military mission has been limited from the start, with the stated objective of protecting Libyan civilians from attack but Gaddafi military targets have been routinely destroyed.

US and its Western allies are considering providing arms to the rebels, which are militarily inferior to the Gaddafi loyalist forces.

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