Defence secretary and chief of defence staff want US to give Libyan rebels more support
The defence secretary, Liam Fox, and General Sir David Richards, chief of defence staff, are in Washington to drum up what they fear is flagging US support for the military campaign in Libya, British government officials said on Tuesday.
In public they may appear confident, but in reality they are deeply concerned that weeks of almost daily air strikes, at an escalating cost, are not having a decisive impact on the ground, officials say.
Fox, meanwhile, is moving closer to saying that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi himself is a legitimate target, officials add. It is a suggestion Richards has distanced himself from in the past.
Fox and Richards are grateful that the US agreed last week to deploy armed unmanned Predator drones over Libya, but they would dearly like the US to bring back low-flying A10 tankbusters, as well as providing the rebels with more support, including military advisers, Whitehall officials say.
Robert Gates, Fox's US counterpart, has from the start made it plain he is wary about getting involved in Libya. "There's a lot of, frankly, loose talk about some of these military options," he told Congress last month.
The most Fox and Richards can hope for, officials suggest, is a US commitment to apply indirect pressure on Gaddafi, including cutting off fuel supplies.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, warned his cabinet colleagues on Tuesday that Britain must prepare for the "long haul" in Libya. Summarising Hague's comments to the cabinet, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The general tone was that there were grounds for optimism, good progress was being made, the alliance was holding up very well, but clearly we need to turn up the pressure. The mission is going in the right direction but we need to prepare for the long haul."
Fox said before flying to Washington: "If the regime continues to wage war on its people, those who are involved in those command-and-control assets need to recognise that we regard them as legitimate targets."
Jim Murphy, shadow defence secretary, accused Fox of causing confusion and concern. "These inflammatory comments need clarification," he added. "We support action in Libya within the UN mandate, but we need clarity on the scope and ultimate aim of UK military action. People will be very concerned that at this stage in the conflict a strategy appears to be being cobbled together rather than implemented."
As unofficial estimates now put the cost to Britain of a six-month campaign against Libya at �1bn, Murphy continued: "While the costs are rising fast there still appears to be no apparent endgame. Ministers must guarantee that not a penny piece will be taken from the frontline in Afghanistan, that these costs will not lead to further cuts to the MoD budget, and that regular updates to parliament will include explanation of the costs of operations."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/26/libya-liam-fox-us-support
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