In U.K., Obama, Cameron talk tough on Qaddafi
Updated at 10:45 a.m. ET
If NATO keeps up its mission in Libya, Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi is bound to step down from power, President Obama said at a press conference today -- but he gave no timeline for how long the mission could take.
"I believe we have built enough momentum that if we sustain the course we're on, he is going to step down," Mr. Obama said at a press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London. "We have not put an artificial timeline for how long this is going to take."
If the coalition currently carrying out the mission in Libya continues to rally all the resources necessary, Mr. Obama said, "we're going to be able to achieve our mission in a timely fashion."
"I do think we have made enormous progress in Libya," he said. "We have saved lives. Qaddafi and his regime need to understand there will not be a letup in the pressure we are applying."
The president also acknowledged the factors that complicate the mission, however, and said that "ultimately, this is going to be a slow, steady process."
The goal, he added, is to help liberate the Libyan people from tyranny so "they can start creating the institutions required for self-determination."
Mr. Obama's optimism comes as members of Congress are increasingly questioning the United States' ongoing involvement in the Libyan conflict, which seems to have no clear end game. Part of the problem with the mission stems from the original United Nations mandate, which only addressed keeping the Libyan people safe. That has been difficult to achieve, given the weak state of the opposition forces and Qaddafi's grip on power there.
Mr. Obama acknowledged as much today, but said, "We are strongly committed to seeing the job through."
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"I do think it is going to be difficult to meet the U.N. mandate for security for the Libyan people as long as Qaddafi and his regime are still attacking them," the president said. The U.S., he continued, is committed to "making sure that at minimum, Qaddafi doesn't have the capacity to send in a bunch of thugs and murder innocent civilians and threaten them."
The mission is further complicated, Mr. Obama said, since the U.S. is committed to keeping out ground forces, which limits the effectiveness of U.S. air strikes.
"The opposition on the ground in Libya is going to have to carry out its responsibilities," he said. "We are going to have to do effective coordination. We are doing that with the opposition on the ground."
"This is going to be a slow, steady process in which we are able to wear down the regime fores and change the political calculations of the Qaddafi regime, where they realize they are not going to control this country," Mr. Obama continued. "The Libyan people are going to control this country. As long as we remain resolute, we can achieve that resolution."
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British Prime Minister David Cameron said he agrees that "we should be turning up the heat in Libya."
"It is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Qaddafi still in power. He must go," Cameron said. Later he added, "The two key things here are patience and persistence."
The U.S. has unique military capabilities and assets that are vital to the mission, Cameron continued, but other nations are asking how they can continue to apply pressure to the Qaddafi regime -- a topic that will come up for discussion at the upcoming G8 summit. At the summit, Cameron said, they will push for a "major program of economic and political support" for countries seeking reform.
The prime minister called this period of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa a "once in a generation moment" for the U.S. and U.K. help spread peace and prosperity.
"This is our issue and massively in our interests," Cameron said. "Those people in Tahrir Square and Tripoli want what we have -- a job and a voice. We all share in their success or failure. If they succeed, there is new hope for those living there and hope for a better and safer world for all of us."
Cameron also gave a positive assessment of the United States' and U.K.'s involvement in other foreign operations, calling this a "vital year in Afghanistan."
"We have broken the momentum of the insurgency," he said, adding that the fight against al Qaeda there will receive "the highest priority in the months ahead."
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Cameron praised Mr. Obama for the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, calling it "a strike at the heart of international terrorism," and congratulated the president for his "bold" and "visionary" speech on the Middle East. Cameron also called for a closer relationship between Britain and Pakistan.
Mr. Obama today sought to clarify some of the remarks from Middle East speech regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He believes that Israeli and Palestinian leaders should begin work on the issues of territorial boundaries and security, and then move onto more emotional and complex issues, he said.
"They will then be in a position to have what will be a very difficult conversation about refugees and Jersualem," Mr. Obama said. "If they're not talking, we're not going to make any progress."
The two leaders also touched on their efforts to continue to restore the economy while keeping public debt in check.
"Obviously, the nature and role of the public sector in the United Kingdom is different than it has been in the United States," Mr. Obama said. Even so, he continued, both countries want to arrive at "a point in which we are making sure our governments are doing what they need to do to ensure broad-based prosperity but doing so in a responsible way that doesn't mortgage our futures."
