Mullen: US not after Gaddafi ouster
Mullen, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the remarks during an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
“This is not about going after Gaddafi himself or attacking him at this particular point in time,” Mullen said.
“We’re in a situation now that what we do will depend to some degree on what he does.”
The remarks come as US and European forces have unleashed massive airstrikes and cruise missile attacks on oil-rich Libya.
Mullen also noted that Western forces have launched the attack on Libyan territories in a bid to protect the civilian population.
“It is about achieving these narrow and relatively limited objectives so that he stops killing his people and so that humanitarian support can be provided.”
Missiles are reported to have hit the Tripoli airport and targets in the western city of Misratah. Nineteen US planes, including three B2 stealth bombers, took part in a dawn raid.
Scores of people, many of them civilians, were killed in the attacks.
With the Western allies pounding targets in Libya from the air, clashes continue on the ground between Gaddafi troops and revolutionary forces.
Gaddafi troops have entered the center of Misratah with tanks. Several people have been killed in the clashes. They are said to have been shot by snipers.
Misratah residents also say Gaddafi forces are using boats to blockade the city’s port in order to prevent aid boats from reaching it.
Libyan soldiers are fighting to re-take cities seized by the revolutionary forces.
China, Russia, Arab League and the African union have condemned the strikes.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi has promised retaliation, saying he will open arms depots to the masses to fight the US and its Western allies.
“We promise you a long, drawn-out war with no limits,” Gaddafi said on state TV on Sunday morning.
Experts say the main motive behind the Western attack on Libya is the vast oil reserves in the North African country. It is the biggest Western military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
JR/HGH/MMN