WH: NATO Mission Could Last Months

The AP reports:

Ahead of President Barack Obama's national address on Libya, top officials of his administration claimed major strides were being made in bolstering rebels fighting Moammar Gadhafi's forces but acknowledged there was no timetable for ending the international operation.

Lawmakers of both parties voiced skepticism over the length, scope and costs of the mission.

"We have to a very large extent completed the military mission in terms of getting it set up. Now, the no-fly zone and even the humanitarian side will have to be sustained for some period of time," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

Asked for how long on NBC's "Meet the Press," Gates said, "Nobody knows the answer to that question." But he said sustaining the no-fly zone would take "a lot less effort" than establishing it. He said the Pentagon was planning to shift some of its resources to European and other countries pledging to take on a larger role.

Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the rounds of network talk shows — in interviews taped Saturday and aired Sunday — to promote the administration's case before Obama's speech at 7:30 p.m. EDT Monday.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which took over enforcing the no-fly zone from the U.S. late last week, seemed likely to expand its air mission on Sunday to assume command of American-led air strikes against Gadhafi's ground forces. The U.S. is eager to hand off responsibility for air strikes to the alliance.

Clinton told CBS' "Face the Nation" that no decision had yet been made on the whether to arm rebels seeking Gadhafi's ouster. So far, "results on the ground are pretty significant," she said.

The secretary of state said she recognizes that many Americans are concerned about the role of the U.S. — already burdened by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and that "the president will speak to the country Monday night to answer a lot of those concerns."