Gates: Strikes will force Gaddafi 'behavior' change

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US defence secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that economic and political pressure and Libya's people — not ongoing military strikes — will eventually drive strongman Muammar Gaddafi from power.

"However, this Nato-led operation can degrade Gaddafi's military capacity to the point where he — and those around him — will be forced into a very different set of choices and behaviors in the future," Gates said in prepared testimony to a key US House of Representatives committee.

Gates underlined that "deposing the Gaddafi regime, as welcome as that eventuality would be, is not part of the military mission."

"In my view, the removal of Colonel Gaddafi will likely be achieved over time through political and economic measures and by his own people," he told worried lawmakers seeking a sense of how long the campaign will last, and whether the Libyan strongman could still be standing when the dust settles.

Gates said Nato had taken over what was now called "Operation Unified Protector" and that the US role will be to manage "electronic warfare, aerial refueling, lift, search and rescue, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support."

"Accordingly, we will, in coming days, significantly ramp down our commitment of other military capabilities and resources," he said, describing the operation as "limited" and promising "no American boots on the ground."

Gates, who said on Sunday that intervening in Libya "was not a vital national interest to the United States," said in the prepared testimony that turmoil there "could have destabilized the entire region at a delicate time."

"The security and prosperity of the United States is linked to the security and prosperity of the broader West Asia," he said in the testimony, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

"And it continues to be in our national interest to prevent Gaddafi from visiting further depredations on his own people, destabilizing his neighbors, and setting back the progress the people of the West Asia have made in recent weeks," said Gates.