Navy Could Aid Libyan No-Fly Zone

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Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead said today that the Navy is prepared to help implement a no-fly zone over Libya should the order come.

"The capability that we have on our aircraft carriers, they can perform that function, they can perform a variety of functions," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead when asked by reporters if the Navy would enforce a no fly zone over Libya after a House Armed Services Committee hearing. "We're ready to perform any taskings we might receive."

He added that he would "not speculate as to what the future might be."

This comes one the heels of an announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that a no-fly zone over Libya, where the Qaddafi government has been using fighter jets to try to quash a popular uprising against it,  is under active consideration.

Roughead's words come as the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge are standing by in the nearby Red Sea and Mediterranean.

The admiral wouldn't elaborate on the preparations that would be needed to enforce a no-fly zone or conduct a evacuations or humanitarian missions.

"We have 20 ships in the Central Command area of operations today, we have eight in the Mediterranean and I'm not going to get into any speculation for how we will be using them."

 

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