In Washington, Navy Adm. William Gortney told reporters Thursday that the U.S. role would predominantly be in support of allied partners, with refueling missions, surveillance, reconnaissance and other non-combat flights. But he also said he expects U.S. planes would continue flying some strike missions.
We'll fly some strike missions? Yeah, best not to send the F-15s and F-16s back to British bases yet:
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the international action would last days or possibly weeks, but not months.
Ah, so the main combatant that is supposed to take the lead won't last as long in the air as their army did in 1940 against the German blitzkrieg. That's nice.
I get the feeling that in a couple weeks we'll be supporting a dozen British fighters with our vast support capabilities and "some" air strikes. And the way things are going, Khaddafi will survive this war.
UPDATE: Thursday night, NATO has agreed to command the least important part of the mission--enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya. We still get to command the strike missions. And the strike missions continue to be done on the buffet basis--all you can hit (or not). This diplomacy stuff is really starting to smart.
UPDATE: And with the term "exit strategy" being tossed around rather than "victory," my hopes are not raised. Worse, I don't think that term means what they think it means. I may have to drink heavily, now.
