Obama hopes resurgent Libyan opposition can topple Gadhafi
San Salvador, El Salvador (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Tuesday expressed hope that Libya's opposition movement, given new protection by a U.S.-led military mission, can organize itself to revive broad enthusiasm for political change and oust Moammar Gadhafi from power.
In a 13-minute interview with CNN's Spanish-language network, Obama said the immediate goal of the U.N.-sanctioned military mission that began Saturday was to prevent an onslaught of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi by Gadhafi's military. "Because the international community rallied, his troops have now pulled back from Benghazi," Obama said. Now the United States and its coalition partners, including NATO allies and Arab states, are establishing a no-fly zone over Libya, with U.S. forces taking out Gadhafi's air defense systems, Obama said. He conceded that Gadhafi could "hunker down and wait it out even in the face of a no-fly zone, even though his forces have been degraded."
