THE AUSTRALIAN: THE West's response to a defiant Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is in disarray, with NATO allies divided over armed intervention and the Libyan regime contemptuously rejecting moves to investigate its alleged crimes against humanity.British Prime Minister David Cameron was accused by a senior NATO official of "jumping the gun" for announcing that he had asked the Ministry of Defence to draw up no-fly zone proposals, while the rift between the US and Britain was underlined as the White House continued to soft-pedal on military action.
"He may have rowed back now but as soon as he made it public that he was in favour of a no-fly zone, Cameron raised expectations," one official said.
Barack Obama struck a cautious note over any kind of military intervention. While saying that a no-fly zone remained an option, he gave warning that the ownership of the Egyptian revolution by its own people had been important to its success.
"One of the reasons we did not see any anti-American protests was because they didn't see that we tried to engineer an outcome," the US President said, adding that the US had to ensure "we are on the right side of history".
But the British Prime Minister won support from France, Europe's other main military power[.] >>> David Charter and Michael Evans | The Times | Friday, March 04, 2011
