President Barack Obama waits in the Blue Room of the White House before announcing personnel changes in the East Room, April 28. Standing with the President, from left, are: Vice President Joe Biden, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and General David Petraeus. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
ABC: Whatever military action takes place against the forces of Col. Moammar Gadhafi will be in keeping with President Obama’s desire that this conflict be seen as a showdown between the Libyan regime and the international community, senior administration officials tell ABC News. This includes not just NATO forces, but conspicuous Arab involvement.
President Obama expects that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will participate, as leaders from those countries have committed to do, officials say. Other Arab countries are considering participation. The Arab League over the weekend endorsed the idea of a no-fly zone, but getting leaders from those countries to go from talk to action is no small task.
…President Obama has tried hard not to feed into Gadhafi’s megalomaniacal worldview by making this confrontation him versus Obama, or the US versus Gadhafi, officials say. With US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the president is also sensitive to not have any pending military action be seen as the U.S. invading a third Muslim country.
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