The bombing by NATO warplanes on the residence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is not trying to assassinate Gaddafi, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.?

"It is certainly not the policy of the coalition, of this administration, to decapitate, if you will, or to effect regime change in Libya by force," Carney said.

He argued that the U.S. military or NATO isn't trying to effect regime change through force "because it is not prescribed in the United Nations Security Council 1973, and because this country, this administration does not believe that that is the right course of action to take."

Carney reiterated?that?"the goal of the mission is clear: protect the civilian population, enforce the no-fly zone, enforce the arms embargo."

NATO air strike?Monday severely damaged the office building of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Bab al-Aziziyah compound.

A Libyan press official said that the strike was an attempt on Gaddafi's life and that 45 people were wounded in the attack, 15 of them were seriously injured, and some were still missing.