Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said during an MSNBC interview Monday that NATO agreed “to continue planning for any and all military options, including a no-fly zone” in Libya.
Morrell, who has just returned from accompanying Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to NATO, said the no-fly zone will depend on a political decision that has not been made yet.
“However, as we saw over the weekend, now the Arab League is calling for it,” Morrell said. “So that will undoubtedly factor into the decision-making of the president and other European leaders as they go forward.”
If the decision is made to establish a no-fly zone, the U.S. military can
make it work, Morrell said. “I don’t think this has ever been a question of can we do this,” he told MSNBC. “I mean, this is the United States military. Even though we have significant commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, Secretary Gates has made it abundantly clear we can do this.”
“It’s important that we not do it alone,” Morrell added. “But this is not a
question of ‘can.’ It’s a question of whether we should. And that’s a
decision that the president will make at some point.”
