Kinetic Action

Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, spoke yesterday during a briefing on board Air Force One about whether U.S. military actions in Libya constituted war or something else:

I think what we are doing is enforcing a resolution that has a very clear set of goals, which is protecting the Libyan people, averting a humanitarian crisis, and setting up a no-fly zone. Obviously that involves kinetic military action, particularly on the front end.  But again, the nature of our commitment is that we are not getting into an open-ended war, a land invasion in Libya.  What we are doing is offering a unique set of capabilities over a period of days that can shape the environment for a no-fly zone.

Expect Congress to take a hard look at the administration's policy on Libya in the coming weeks, as Inside the Pentagon reports this morning:

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) said Wednesday he expects the ongoing U.S. and allied airstrikes in Libya will take center-stage March 29 when the panel holds a fiscal year 2012 budget hearing with U.S. European Command chief Adm. James Stavridis and U.S. Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler. "There will be a hearing in effect which will focus on this, because Adm. Stavridis will be coming in front of us Tuesday. So I'm sure this will be the main focus of that hearing," Levin said.