WEBVTT

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The no fly zone . So what I would say

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is we are indeed , uh and it may not be

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apparent to TNC forces , uh to whom we

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don't have to prove where we are ? But

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we have been tracking targets that

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directly threaten civilians , civilian

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population areas or are linked to those

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forces doing so . So we've done that in

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the last 24 hours and throughout the

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first week of our operation . In

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relation to your first question . I'm

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not aware what General Younis has said

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today or yesterday . Um , but I'm not

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apologizing . Uh , the situation on the

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ground , as I said , was extremely

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fluid and remains extremely fluid . And

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up until yesterday we had no

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information that the TNC or the

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opposition forces were using tanks .

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There were equipment moving up and down

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the road between brega and has to be

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going forward and coming back and our

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role is to protect civilians . Tanks

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have been used in the past to directly

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target civilians . And indeed the other

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day we had questions and we're

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examining the case in Misrata , where

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we've seen tanks right in the center

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with population areas and people brand

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about them . Thank you . Thank you .

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Thank you so much . Rear Admiral . Um ,

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yesterday , General carter ham said

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that situation , Libya had gone into a

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kind of a stalemate . I think he was

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referring both military and politically .

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I don't know if the chain of command of

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NATO shares this assessment and if not

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how how how are you , how are you

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dealing with this ? And what how will

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your tactics change ? And I don't know

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if I can make a second question , do we

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still have all the U . S . Attack

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aircrafts in place or did the reduction

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already ? If it effectively take place ?

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I think it was around for the planes

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that they would retrieved from command

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of NATO . Thank you so much . Thank you

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so much so much . Can I address the

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your second question first on U . S .

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Forces and then when I think the first

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question um may come back to you on the

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the answer about US forces . As

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President Obama said some days ago um

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the U . S . Forces would start to take

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a step back . So with the U . S .

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Forces being up here , a large number

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of aircraft flying roughly half the

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strike sorties . The number of

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coalition aircraft has come up and

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we're now content with the number of

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strike aircraft we have today . There

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are over 100 and 10 fast jet as I would

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call it sorties , flying missions over

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Libya over the next 24 hours . So

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that's over 100 and 10 sorties . So

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what the U . S . Forces are providing

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is supporting assets to us and the

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focus the main principle number of

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sorties is now floating by the

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coalition on your earlier , sorry , the

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NATO nations and their partners on the

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first question I think you've said

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you're quoting general ham . I'm not

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aware exactly what what he said and

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you're asking whether there is a

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political and military stalemate ? I'll

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leave one or to give her own view on

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that question . But as to whether we've

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changed what we're doing . No , we

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haven't changed what we're doing .

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We're looking at those forces across

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Libya and I'm sorry to repeat it . Who

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are attacking the civilian population ,

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threatened to attack them or our

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directly linked to that ? And that

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means looking at where they're getting

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their ammunition from and also looking

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at where they're getting the fuel from .

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Wanna do you want to take the first

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part of that question ? Absolutely .

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From what I've seen from general carter

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hams testimony to the United Services

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Committee in the Senate yesterday , he

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made clear that his assessment was

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based on the changing tactics by the

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pro Gaddafi forces . That the Rear

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Admiral was also referring to . The

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fact that we see all forces

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driving around in civilian vehicles

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very hard to tell who's who and

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also the fact that pro Gaddafi forces

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are using human shields and our parking

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tanks next to mosques and schools . So

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it's very hard uh two pinpoint

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any of this military hardware

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without causing civilian casualties .

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So , I think General had made it clear

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that his assessment was not made on the

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on the basis that NATO had taken

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command . And we've always made clear

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that there is no purely military

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solution to this conflict conflict .

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This is why it's so important to find a

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political solution and there , I would

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say that there is no stalemate just on

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the contrary , I think there is a clear

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drive from the international community

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to urgently find a political solution

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to this conflict . Uh , and the contact

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group will be meeting next Wednesday .

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I understand in Doha , as I said , the

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secretary general has been invited and

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will be there .