WEBVTT

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Okay , so now we can start Good

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afternoon and welcome back to NATO for

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our regular briefing on progress in

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NATO's operation to protect civilians

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in Libya operation , Unified Protector .

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I'm joined today as you can see in the

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screen by the commander of our

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operation . General Charles Bouchard

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from Joint Force Command Naples as you

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know , has been a busy operational week

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since our last briefing . And I know

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that you are very interested in the

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recent developments in our operation .

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Therefore , I would like to hand over

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immediately the floor to general

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bouchar to Naples for an operational

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update . Since we only have 30 minutes .

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So general Bouchard , you have the

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floor Mr Fukuoka men .

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Good afternoon and welcome to Naples in

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person And for those of you who are

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joining us through video link as well .

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The last time I had an opportunity to

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talk to you was on the 31st of March as

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we took command and NATO took the lead

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in Mission Unified Protector . Which is

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aimed at protecting civilian

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populations after 30 days in uh , on a

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mission and engage in this mission . I

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believe it's time for me to give you a

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small update , a brief update of the

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situation . As I see it from my

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perspective , I think it's important

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from the start to restate that our

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mission is to help prevent harms to the

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population and the population center in

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Libya to do that , we have been given

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three major areas . The first one is a

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maritime embargo and to ensure that we

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stop the movement of illicit weapons uh

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in and out of Libya . The second area

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that we're working on is one where we

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are enforcing a no fly zone in the area

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to prevent harms from coming using

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weapons against them from the Gaddafi

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regime's . That could be used to harm

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the population to the third area . And

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probably the most challenging task of

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this mission is to help protect

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civilians and civilian populated area

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on the threat of attack in Libya . And

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that is the one that I'm most focused

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on every day . I'd like to take you a

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little bit from my perspective , as I

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see the situation in the area today .

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First of all in the east , You will

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recall some 30 days ago as Libya was a

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constant fire in Benghazi was

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threatened as well . Today . Both of

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these cities are seeing relatively

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relative peace and lack of fires being

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brought upon the population . But that

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is not in itself removed the risk that

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we're still facing from pro Gadhafi

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forces who have the intent and who have

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the capability to bring arms in the

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population . We remain focused on them

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and we are ready to engage them if it's

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required and when it will be required .

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The area of yeah , Fran Zintan area

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where violence continue against the

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Berber tribe and also other members of

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the population continues . The

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situation is a bit more dynamic in the

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area , but we continue to stay focused

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and as late as yesterday we were

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continuing efforts and gaining in

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stopping pro Gadhafi forces from

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engaging the population . Finally , the

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area of Misrata area some 30 days ago .

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You will recall that the population was

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nearly on the edge of the city back

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into med . Today . They've made

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significant gains in the city though ,

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it continues , there continued to be

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receiving and direct and indiscriminate

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fire on the population . So the

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violence against population , whether

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through threat capability or intent ,

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continues throughout the entire area .

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When I look at the situation in all , I

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think it was . So , it's important that

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we look at it from a campaign

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perspective , not a city by city issue .

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We remain focused on those command and

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control notes that are utilized to

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order military personnel to engage

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civilian population . We remain engaged

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on the lines of communications that are

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used to resupply those forces

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engaged in bringing harm to the

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population . We're also working on

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stopping the supply chain from

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ammunition depots and other areas to

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stop the movement of these weapons

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forward to enable harm from coming to

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the population . And finally , we

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remain directly engaged in

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engaging those forces