White House Not Mulling Larger Role in Libya War

France Pushing for Ground Invasion, Warning of Stalemate

White House spokesman Jay Carney insisted on Monday that the US is not considering a larger role in the war in Libya, rejecting reports late last week that “shortages” of bombs among other nations would convince the US to launch more attacks of their own.

Carney maintained that the US would remain in a “support and assist” role, refueling and providing intelligence for the attacks. It was revealed last week however that the US is still launching some bombing attacks in this role.

Reports say that President Obama’s decision to go to war without even broaching the subject with Congress or the American people came with a promise to advisors to keep the US role “limited.”

But not everyone is keen on keeping the war limited, with French officials pushing for a full ground invasion. The UN Resolution 1973, which authorized the no-fly zone that was used as a pretext for the war, explicitly forbids a ground occupation of Libya.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.