They said they interpreted the UN Security Council resolution — authorizing military action to protect Libyan civilians and imposing a no-fly zone — as also allowing moves necessary to drive Qaddafi from power.
“I think it gives justification if NATO decides it wants to, for going directly after Qaddafi,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut. “I can’t think of anything that would protect the civilian population of Libya more than the removal of Muammar Qaddafi.”
A protracted stalemate and a divided Libya, with Qaddafi and the opposition controlling different parts, could open the door to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, said Arizona Sen. John McCain, who visited a rebel stronghold this past week.
He described the opposition in Benghazi as “this very legitimate government.” Even with more arms for the rebels, said Republican Sen.
Lindsey Graham, there isn’t enough momentum for them to reach Tripoli, the capital, and there isn’t “deep support” for Qaddafi’s continued rule.
“So my recommendation to NATO and the administration is to cut the head of the snake off, go to Tripoli, start bombing Qaddafi’s inner circle, their compounds, their military headquarters,” he said.
“The way to get Qaddafi to leave is have his inner circle break and turn on him. And that’s going to take a sustained effort through an air campaign,” Graham said.
While saying it’s good to have international coalitions and UN involvement, “the goal is to get rid of Qaddafi,” he argued.
“The people around Qaddafi need to wake up every day wondering, `Will this be my last?’ The military commanders in Tripoli supporting Qaddafi should be pounded,” Graham said. “So I would not let the UN mandate stop what is the right thing to do. You cannot protect the Libyan people if Qaddafi stays. You cannot protect our vital national security interests if Qaddafi stays.” He urged actions that are in the best interests of the US, the Libyan people and the world, without being hamstrung by UN politics.
“You can’t let the Russians and the Chinese veto the freedom agenda. So any time you go to the United Nations Security Council, you run into the Russians and the Chinese. These are quasi-dictatorships, so I wouldn’t be locked down by the UN mandate,” Graham said.
McCain was not as enthusiastic about targeting Qaddafi, saying “we have tried those things in the past with other dictators, and it’s a little harder than you think it is.” Qaddafi is elusive and “a great survivor, and there’s the potential for civilian casualties, which could turn the Libyan people against the US, he said.
“The point is that we can’t count on taking Qaddafi out.
What we can count on is a trained, equipped, well-supported liberation forces which can either force Qaddafi out or obtain victory and send him to an international criminal court,” said McCain, the top Republican on the Senate committee.
“My emphasis is on winning the battle on the ground, not taking a chance on taking him out with a lucky air strike.” Lieberman and McCain want increased use of US precision weapons and American air power returned to the mission.
Lieberman and McCain appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” broadcast on Sunday; Graham’s remarks, aired on the same show, were taped on Friday.
