WEBVTT

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Wednesday , we engaged forces in

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Central Libya , including an air

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defence facility near Sirte . Under our

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mission to protect civilians and

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civilian population areas . The

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presence of NATO aircraft and the

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accuracy of our strikes continue to

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pressurize those who would bring harm

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to innocent civilians . In the weeks

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since NATO took over command of the

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mission , the operational tempo has

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been steadily increasing . We've now

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flown more than 1500 sorties , almost

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half of them strike sorties and I'd

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point out that many of these sorties

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last up to 600 hours and if you add it

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all up , we're flying upwards of 600

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hours per day , which I think you'd

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agree is a very significant effort .

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Since we started this effort , we've

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hit targets including T 72 tanks ,

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armored personnel carriers , rocket

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launchers , surface to air missiles and

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ammunition dumps and locations

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including Misrata , Russell enough and

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BREGa . All these different

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targets are part of a coherent NATO

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strategy which reaches across the

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country and is designed to protect the

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civilians by reducing the ability of

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the government to wage a ruthless war

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on its citizens . Some strikes of drugs

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destroyed equipment and disrupted

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military formations . Others have

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interdicted the lines of communication ,

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cutting off government forces access to

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vital supplies . Others have struck

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directly at forces which were already

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attacking civilian areas . It would

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appear that two of our strikes

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yesterday may have resulted in the

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deaths of a number of TNC forces who

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were operating . Main battle tanks .

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The incident took place north east of

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BREGa where fighting had gone back and

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forth on the road to Ajdabiya . The

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situation in the area is still very

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fluid with tanks and other vehicles

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moving in different directions , making

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it very difficult to distinguish who

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may be operating them . In addition ,

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until this time , we had not seen the

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TNC operating tanks . It's

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important to stress that our mission is

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to protect civilians and we will

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continue to strike forces that could

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potentially cause harm to the people of

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Libya . I'd like to conclude by

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addressing an allegation made against

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operation Unified Protector . Earlier

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in the week on Wednesday , it was

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stated that NATO aircraft had struck

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the career oilfield and I assure you

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this is absolutely false . There was no

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NATO strike in that area . I repeat ,

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no NATO aircraft flew strikes in that

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area . What we do know is that

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government forces have attacked those

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old facilities in the serie a area in

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an attempt to disrupt the flow of oil

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to Tobruk . The defiant was a direct

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result of their aggressive action . I'm

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now happy to take questions from both

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here and in brussels . Thank you .

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We'll start with two questions from

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brussels . Then we'll go over to Naples

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and then we can come back here . Please

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introduce yourself from

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safety . Ah Admiral .

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Two questions . The first one , is that

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true that according to General Younis

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rebels , military chief , I need to

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apologize for the incident which

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occurred in America because

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apparently communications between the

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rebels and NATO are not very good and

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you did not know , somebody did not

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know in the chain of command of NATO

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that the rebels had from our own

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tanks And they were using them . 2nd

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question about Libya ,

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is that true that NATO did not fly over

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the advancing Qaddafi troops ? Why is

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aware rather exposed to two strikes in

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the desert area and that it's much more

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difficult . As you know , and as you

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say every day to strike troops when

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there are nearing borrows cities ,

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suburbs ? Well , effectively there is a

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difficulty and high risk of collateral

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damage . So can you confirm what is

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exactly the tactics of NATO ? Why don't

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you apparently according to people on

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the ground , including journalists ,

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strike people that are effectively much

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more vulnerable , vulnerable before the

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richest cities , The the richest city .

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Thank you . Can I take the second

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question 1st . Um , I think your

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question was why are we not attacking

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forces that are I think you imply out

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in the open and easier to attack than

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forces which are directly in the built

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up areas . I think what I just outlined

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there was the fact that we have been

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ranging far and wide . And I said this

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in the answer to the question on

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Wednesday , very similar Over the last

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24 hours and last night we've ranged as

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far over as ammunition dumps directly

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connected and servicing those forces

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attacking civilians to the south and

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southwest of Tripoli along the coast

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through Russell enough . And certainly

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we've attacked air defense sites that

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are lit up . I illuminated our aircraft

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and flight , enforcing the no fly zone .

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So what I would say .