US general sees Libya stalemate

China.org.cn, April 8, 2011

An American general Carter Ham said on Thursday night that the Libyan civil war is close to stalemate. Opposition fighters are unlikely to be able to drive Col Muammar Gaddafi from power.

The general led the initial stages of allied air strikes against Libyan forces and gave his assessment of the conflict to a Congressional hearing in Washington.

Ham told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that a stalemate isn't the preferred solution, according to agencies.

He says bad weather and threats from Gaddafi's mobile surface-to-air missile systems hampered efforts to use US powerful combat aircraft, such as the AC-130 gunship and the A-10 Thunderbolt, to provide close air support for friendly ground forces. Those conditions contributed to the stalemate, he said.

Reuters said US President Barack Obama has ruled out sending US ground forces to Libya and top administration officials have stressed the limits of US involvement in what could become a protracted civil war.

Obama has called for Gaddafi to leave but has insisted that the U.S. will not use military force to oust him.

Zheng Ruolin, a Paris correspondent of Shanghai-based Wen Hui Daily, said in this north African country made up of over a hundred tribes, there have never been modern state institutions. Gaddafi maintained the country's unification by reaching agreements with different tribes.

He said, now, the divergence of opinions among tribes has turned into hatred and hostility, and the military intervention from the West has inflamed the situation into an Iraq-like war. It's probable that the dream of a democratic unified government will fail to become reality in post-Gaddafi times.