It will only take a couple of days for the US military to establish a "no-flying" zone over Libya if the international community decided in favour of such a move, a top American general said today.
It will only take a couple of days for the US military to establish a "no-flying" zone over Libya if the international community decided in favour of such a move, a top American general said today.
Commanding general of the United States' Joint Forces Command Raymond Odierno, however, noted that the Libyan crisis would not be resolved quickly and could go on "for a very long time."
"We can react very quickly to all this if we have to. We are prepared to do that. I believe within a couple days, we would probably be able to implement a no-fly zone," Odierno said at the Harvard Kennedy School here.
Odierno added that any response to the turmoil in Libya must have international backing and support.
On deploying tanks or anti-aircraft equipment in Libya to tackle the crisis, the general said such a decision would be more complicated.
"Bringing in heavy equipment, that is a whole different kind of escalation. I am not sure we are quite there yet. I am not sure how willing we are to do that," Odierno said.
He said solving the Libyan crisis "has to be an international action. I think that is the key piece on Libya."
"I think Libya is going to be a long-term effort. People might think it is going to end tomorrow, but I think this is going to go on for a very long time."
Imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya would prevent Muammar Gaddafi's aircraft from attacking its citizens.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has, however, said that any decision to impose a no-fly zone over Libya should be taken by the UN and "not the United States".
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