The US President Barrack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron said they will increase pressure on Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi till he leaves, though Obama was slightly less hawkish on the attacks.
“The President and I agree that we should be turning up the heat on Libya.. On Britain’s party, we would be looking at all the way of turning up that heat,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said.
Saying that the US and Britain must stand with those who work for freedom, Cameron insisted: “He [Gaddafi] must must go.”
Obama, however, was more circumspect, careful about emphasizing that he would work under the mandate of the UN mandate only and not as a separate coalition.
“It is important to note that we did so under a UN mandate and broad-based international coalition.. Given the progress made under the last several weeks.., there will not be a let up in the pressure that we are putting.. We are putting a wide range of resources consistent with the UN mandate,” Obama said.
“I want to underscore that this is not the US and Britain, but we have an international coalition,” he said, adding that the idea was to not stand by and watch when Gaddafi kills his own people.
“We will continue those operations (in Libya) until Gadaffi’s attacks against his people cease,” Obama added. He said the US will stay on in the mission “at minimum, till Gaddafi doesn’t have the capacity to send a bunch of criminals and threaten them [his people,]” he said.
He also reminded that one must be mindful of the limits of what military power alone can achieve and that ultimately it is the Libyan people who must decide their country’s course.
He also reiterated his opposition to putting actual troops on the ground in the North African country. He also pointed out that there is no secret super weapon that can change the course of the campaign immediately, without help from the local Libyan opposition.
Responding to Obama’s reluctance, Cameron, however, pointed out that it is hard to see how to secure peace for the people of Libya as long as Gaddafi remains in power.
Obama is on a diplomatic visit to Britain, shortly after he started off in Ireland earlier this week. Obama is on his way to other European countries including Poland after the British visit.
