a conflict that the allies are determined to win.
The conflict has lasted longer than some had anticipated when Nato took command of operations on March 31, replacing a Western coalition that had launched the first salvos two weeks earlier.

As the Nato mission marks three months, rifts have emerged with Italy calling last week for a suspension of hostilities, while some allies with small air forces are feeling the strains of a steady pace of sorties.
The operation’s commander, Lieutenant- General Charles Bouchard, refuses to scale it down, saying Nato has made significant progress by bringing “normalcy” to the opposition-held east while rebels scored successes in the west.

“I do not believe that any scaling down of operation is appropriate nor required at this time. In fact we stay the course,” Bouchard said.
The Canadian general said Nato would keep up the pressure until Muammar Gaddafi stops threatening civilians, returns his forces to barracks and allows humanitarian aid to flow freely into Libya.

“We will continue our mission without pause until we have reached those objectives,” he said.
The military organisation has extended its mandate for another 90 days, committing it to the mission until at least late September.

Shashank Joshi, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said Nato has succeeded in fulfilling its UN mandate to protect civilians and will eventually bring down the Gaddafi regime.
“They have degraded Gaddafi’s military capability, pushed him back, stretched his forces extremely thinly and essentially have made regime change an inevitability,” Joshi said.

On the mission of regime change, which is the more central mission, I think they will eventually succeed, there’s no doubt about it,” he said, although Nato has repeatedly denied seeking regime change or targetting Gaddafi himself.

“But, what I would caution, is that it can only take place potentially on a timetable that is quite politically damaging and has already revealed quite a few serious strains within the alliance.” – AFP.

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