UK Navy chief sees hard choices looming on Libya

[June 14, 2011]  LONDON (AP) -- The head of the Royal Navy warned Monday that the British fleet off Libya will be unable to maintain its scale of operations without cutbacks elsewhere if the mission drags on until the end of the year.

Adm. Mark Stanhope said in a briefing that he was comfortable with NATO's decision to extend the Libya operation to the end of September. Beyond that, he said, the government would need to make "challenging decisions."

"If we do it longer than six months, we will have to reprioritize forces," he said.

Meanwhile, a senior NATO official said that if the alliance's intervention in Libya's civil war continues, the issue of resources will become "critical."

Gen. Stephane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, told reporters during a NATO conference in Serbia that "at this stage the forces engaged do have the means necessary to conduct the operation."

But he noted that "if the operation were to last long, of course, the resource issue will become critical."

"If additional resources are needed, this of course will need a political decision," he said.

The comments come amid concerns about mounting costs for the Libya campaign -- and its lack of a clear endgame. Britain has a destroyer, a minehunter, an assault ship with four Apache jets, and a submarine engaged off the coast of Libya.

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered an unusual public rebuke to the United States' European allies, saying NATO's shaky operations in Libya exposed the alliance's shortcomings and opened the "real possibility of collective military irrelevance." Gates called on members to look at new ways of raising combat capabilities in procurement, training and logistics.

Britain is carrying out steep spending cuts intended to cut the country's budget deficit. The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and its Harrier jump jets were scrapped -- a decision that has made it more difficult for Britain to operate in the Libyan mission.

Had the Ark Royal remained in place, the Harrier jets could have been deployed in 20 minutes, rather than the 90 minutes taken to send Tornado and Typhoon aircraft from a base in Italy.

But Defense Secretary Liam Fox said Britain had shown it had the resources to play its part in the NATO operation.

Fox said in a statement that Britain's leading role in the Libya operation showed it remained a "leading military power."

[Associated Press; By DANICA KIRKA]

Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.

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