Libyian leader pledges ‘long, drawn-out war’

TRIPOLI, LIBYA —U.S. and European officials Sunday declared a no-fly zone “effectively in place” over Libya after nearly 24 hours of massive strikes by air and sea, as Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi promised “a long, drawn-out war” against foreign forces he called “traitors” and “Nazis.”
“Initial operations have been very effective,” Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning. “We’ve taken out most of his air defense systems and some of his airfields. But there is still a great deal to be done.”
Reporters travelling east of Benghazi on Sunday morning found a graveyard of smoking military vehicles, the apparent remnants of the military force Gaddafi had sent to wrest control of the rebel-controlled city in eastern Libya. The overturned armored vehicles and trucks, news agencies reported, had apparently been struck in attacks by U.S., French and British aircraft. The operation had “put a halt, at least temporarily,” to the government’s assault on Benghazi and coalition air cover over the city would continue, Mullen said.
U.S. and British warships rained scores of Tomahawk cruise missiles on Libyan air defenses and French warplanes swooped down on military vehicles Saturday, launching the U.N.-supported military intervention intended to stop Gaddafi’s brutal assault on opposition forces.
More than 100 missiles slammed targets along Libya’s western coast, destroying radars, transmitters and antiaircraft batteries to signal the start of “Operation Odyssey Dawn,” a multi­national military campaign intended to protect Libyan civilians and rebels forces.