Excerpt: "The United States confirmed on Saturday afternoon that it had joined airstrikes in Libya. The action by European, American and Arab leaders to stop Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's attacks on the Libyan opposition is the largest international military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion of Iraq."
French Army soldiers prepare a Rafale jet fighter at the military base of Saint Dizier, eastern France, 03/19/11. (photo: Sebastien Dupont/AP)
US Missiles Strike Libyan Air Defense Targets
19 March 11
American and European forces began a broad campaign of strikes against the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi on Saturday, unleashing warplanes and missiles in the first round of the largest international military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon said.
Pentagon and NATO officials detailed a mission designed to impose a United Nations-sanctioned no-fly zone and keep Mr. Qaddafi from using airpower against beleaguered rebel forces in the east. While the overall effort was portrayed as mostly being led by France and Britain, the Pentagon said that American forces dominated an effort to knock out Libya's air-defense systems.
In a briefing Saturday afternoon, Vice Adm. William Gortney told reporters that about 110 Tomahawk missiles, fired from American warships and submarines and one British submarine struck 20 air-defense targets around Tripoli, the capital, and the western city of Misurata. He said the strikes were against longer-range air defense missiles as well as early warning radar sites and main command-and-control communication centers.
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