Senior US officials have spent the last week dodging questions about whether the United States will participate in some type of military action in Libya beyond the UN-sanctioned no-fly zone, if Muammar Qaddafi’s regime continues violence against Libyan citizens. On Wednesday, President Obama spoke up. The President told the Spanish-language network Univision that a land invasion was “absolutely” out of the question, reported Associated Press. He also echoed senior military leaders’ recent comments that a transition is coming, as soon the United States will no longer have the lead in Operation Odyssey Dawn. His comments came the same day on which F-15s struck more missile sites around Tripoli, the Libyan capital. Obama also attempted to answer another lingering question: What exactly does the US have to gain from its involvement in Libya? “The American people and the United States have an interest” in stopping a “brutal dictator” from threatening and attacking “his people,” Obama said. (White House blog entry)
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
