Leocadia blog

Obama faces challenge of defining Libya strategy

President Barack Obama faces the challenge on Monday of convincing Americans he has clear aims and an exit strategy for U.S. forces in the Libya conflict as he seeks to counter growing criticism from Congress.

Obama, accused by many lawmakers of failing to explain the U.S. role in the Western air campaign against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his loyalists, will try to define the mission's purpose and scope in a televised address at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT).

Coalition allies will also be listening closely. The speech comes on the eve of a 35-nation conference in London billed as a discussion of political strategies to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule of his oil-exporting North African nation.

Obama's task has been made easier by NATO's agreement to assume full responsibility for military operations in Libya, ending uncertainty about who will take over the lead from U.S. forces.

Obama is expected to hail the alliance's decision as proof he is making good on his pledge that the United States -- with its forces entangled in Iraq and Afghanistan -- will play only a limited role in a war in a third Muslim country.

The White House also hopes he can score political points at home by underlining gains on the battlefield by Libyan rebels emboldened Western-led airstrikes.

But Obama still must reassure an American public preoccupied with domestic economic concerns that intervention in Libya serves U.S. national interests and must overcome doubts whether he has a plan for an end game.

Obama, asked about Libya at a "town hall" public meeting on education on Monday, said the U.S. involvement would be "limited both in time and in scope."

CRITICISM

Obama's address to the American people marks his boldest move to seize back control of the Libya debate in Washington.

Republicans have been the most outspoken in their complaints that he has failed to communicate thoroughly the mission's goals, and some have chided him for not seeking congressional approval. While most fellow Democrats are still backing him, some see a lack of a coherent exit plan.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell urged Obama to use his speech for an "overdue" explanation of his Libya policy and warned that any escalation of the U.S. military role would require prior consultation with Congress.

"If the American people are uncertain as to our military objectives in Libya, it's with good cause," he said on the Senate floor.

White House officials defend Obama's cautious approach as necessary to forge a coalition, including Arab support, and deny any failure to articulate U.S. objectives.

Obama has said the purpose of the U.N.-approved military action was to protect civilians, not to oust Gaddafi. However, he has made no secret of his desire to see Gaddafi go.

What remains unclear, however, is what happens if Gaddafi stays in power despite a no-fly zone and air strikes.

Obama has yet to address that scenario -- aside from reiterating that U.S. ground forces would not be used -- and it was not known how far he would go in his speech at the military's National Defense University in Washington.

Though allied bombing of Gaddafi's forces has helped Libya's rebel army reverse the military losses of their five-week-old insurgency, analysts see the risk of a bloody stalemate that could prolong Western military support.

Despite that, Defense Secretary Bob Gates told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday the United States would begin reducing its role in the Libya no-fly zone in the next week or so.

Recent polls show more Americans backing Obama's use of air power in Libya than those opposing it. But experts say unless the United States finds a quick exit, Obama could see Libya emerge as an issue in his 2012 re-election campaign.

Obama is struggling to balance his handling of world crises with his domestic priorities of jobs and the economy, considered crucial to his re-election chances.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Arshad Mohammed and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Eric Beech and Cynthia Osterman)