(Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday strongly defended its response to the turmoil in Libya, insisting it has taken "dramatic action" and rebutting criticism that its consensus-based approach is too cautious.(Nikon EN-EL15 Battery)
As President Barack Obama's top advisers met to debate what to do next, Muammar Gaddafi's forces halted a rebel advance in the east of the oil-producing North African country and opposition forces suffered setbacks in the west.(KODAK KLIC-7002 Battery)
A range of options were on the table in the White House situation room, including a "no-fly" zone to ground Gaddafi's warplanes, although U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already warned of the difficulties of such an action.
With Libyan rebels fragmented and disorganized and Gaddafi's forces successfully counter-attacking, the Obama administration has been struggling to craft a strategy that forces Gaddafi from power without entangling the United States in a new war in the Muslim world.(KODAK KLIC-7001 Battery)
Despite its fear that Libya could become what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called a "giant Somalia," Washington is reluctant to intervene militarily in a messy civil war, especially since the United Nations, NATO and countries in the region are divided on what should be done.
White House spokesman Jay Carney dismissed suggestions that Washington had failed to act with sufficient urgency.(Canon LP-E6 Battery)
"There has never been a situation where the international community, with leadership by the United States, has acted as quickly as it has to respond to this kind of situation," he said.
Clinton, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, attended Wednesday's meeting, but it was not expected to lead to any immediate change in U.S. strategy, Carney said.(Canon NB-4L Battery)
The White House session came ahead of Thursday's meeting of NATO defense ministers, including Gates, in Brussels. A U.S. official said Libya options were being "teed up" for discussion there.
A top U.S. general said the United States military was prepared to quickly establish a "no-fly" zone over Libya if the international community decided on that option.
"I believe within a couple days, we would probably be able to implement a no-fly zone," General Raymond Odierno, commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command told an audience at Harvard University in Massachusetts.(Fujifilm NP-80 Battery)
Odierno said it was important that any response to the turmoil in Libya have international backing.
LIBYA VERSUS BALKANS
The United States, embroiled in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been stressing the need for international support for any intervention in Libya. On Tuesday, Clinton said Washington would not act without a U.N. Security Council resolution.(Sony NP-BG1 Battery)
At the Security Council, where Britain and France are pushing for a resolution authorizing a no-fly zone, diplomats said the Americans had made clear they were not ready to press ahead with the measure.(SONY NP-FM50 Battery)
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