Gadhafi promises 'long war' after allies strike Libya

U.S. and European nations targeted Moammar Gadhafi's forces with airstrikes and dozens of cruise missiles, shaking the Libyan capital with explosions and the sound of gunfire early Sunday. The Libyan leader vowed a long war "with unlimited patience and deep faith."

State television said 48 people had died in the strikes, which marked the widest international military effort since the Iraq war. They were aimed at enforcing a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone in support of rebels who have seen early gains reversed by the regime's superior air power and weaponry.

In Benghazi, the rebel capital and first city to fall to the uprising that began Feb. 15, people said the international action happened just in time. Libyan government tanks and troops had reached the edges of the city on Saturday.

"It was a matter of minutes and Gadhafi's forces would have been in Benghazi," said Akram Abdul Wahab, a 20-year-old butcher in the city.

Libyan state TV quoted the armed forces command as saying 48 people have been killed and 150 wounded in the allied assault by U.S. and European forces. Libyan TV reported that most of the casualties are children.

The report could not be independently confirmed.

A senior U.S. defense official said it was believed Gadhafi's air defenses suffered substantial damage.

While some cautioned that it was too early for an assessment, the official said that given the precision targeting of the Navy's cruise missiles, they believed that Libya's defenses suffered a good deal of damage. The official spoke on grounds of anonymity because the mission is ongoing.

Gadhafi remains defiant

Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya for 41 years, said in a telephone call to Libyan state TV that he was opening weapons depots to allow his people to arm themselves in defense.

He said the international action against his forces was unjustified, calling it "simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war." He warned that the involvement of international forces will subject the Mediterranean and North African region to danger.

President Obama authorized limited military action against Libya. He reiterated that he would not send American ground troops.

"We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy," Obama said Saturday from Brazil.

U.S. and British ships and submarines fired more than 112 cruise missiles at more than 20 Libyan air defense targets, Vice Adm. William Gortney, director of the Joint Staff, told reporters on Saturday. Most of those areas are in and around the capital Tripoli.

The first Tomahawk cruise missiles struck at 3 p.m. ET, Gortney said, after a one-hour flight from U.S. and British vessels in the Mediterranean.

No U.S. aircraft fired missiles or dropped bombs, Gortney said.

The British defense secretary, Liam Fox, said in a statement that Tornado GR4 fast jets flew 3,000 miles from Royal Air Force Station Marham in Norfolk, England, and back. The jets launched Stormshadow missiles, while a Trafalgar submarine launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Operation Odyssey Dawn

The strike's intent, Gortney said, was to stop further attacks on civilians by forces loyal to Gadhafi and to allow for allied warplanes to safely enforce a no-fly zone in Libya.

Libyan air defenses are similar to those U.S. and coalition forces faced in Iraq during the 2003 invasion, he said. They consist of older, Soviet-era technology, which still has "good capability."

"Odyssey Dawn," as the operation has been dubbed, is being led by U.S. commanders during the initial phases, Gortney said.

U.S. ships and warplanes will take the lead in the first round of attacks because of their "unique capabilities," said a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss ongoing military operations.

The strikes are designed to prevent Gadhafi from attacking civilians, particularly those around the besieged city of Benghazi. Attacking missile defenses will allow a coalition of allied warplanes to enforce a no-fly zone. Flights will be denied in northern Libya from west of Tripoli to east of Benghazi and south to the city of Sabha.

At least 11 U.S. Navy ships and submarines are patrolling the Mediterranean off Libya and are prepared to take part in the attack. The first strikes hit targets that included defenses near Tripoli and Misratah, according to briefing slides shown to reporters at the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates delayed a trip to Russia on Saturday to remain in Washington and monitor the first phase of the attacks. The military official could not say how long the attacks would last.

"The U.S. will be at the front end of this," he said.

The American military's unique capabilities include the ability to launch cruise missiles, logistics, electronic attacks designed to thwart radar and air defense and the ability to synchronize and command attacks, he said.

Four other countries announced that they would take part in enforcing the no-fly zone. They are Great Britain, France, Canada and Italy, the official said. Other countries are expected to announce their participation in coming days, he said.

About 20 French fighter jets carried out "several strikes" earlier Saturday, military spokesman Thierry Burkhard told The Associated Press.

"All our planes have returned to base tonight," he said, and denied a Libyan TV report that a French plane had been hit.

He would not elaborate on what was hit or where, but said French forces are focusing on the Benghazi area and U.S. forces are focused in the west.

Earlier strikes

The U.S. has struck Libya before. Former president Ronald Reagan launched U.S. airstrikes on Libya in 1986 after a bombing at a Berlin disco — which the U.S. blamed on Libya — that killed three people, including two American soldiers. The airstrikes killed about 100 people in Libya, including Gadhafi's young adopted daughter at his Tripoli compound.

The rebels said earlier that they had hoped for more, sooner from the international community, after a day when crashing shells shook the buildings of Benghazi and Gadhafi's tanks rumbled through the university campus.

"People are disappointed, they haven't seen any action yet. The leadership understands some of the difficulties with procedures but when it comes to procedures versus human lives the choice is clear," said Essam Gheriani, a spokesman for the opposition. "People on the streets are saying where are the international forces? Is the international community waiting for the same crimes to be perpetrated on Benghazi has have been done by Gadhafi in the other cities?"

Saturday's fighting galvanized the people of Benghazi, with young men collecting bottles to make gasoline bombs. Some residents dragged bed frames and metal scraps into the streets to make roadblocks.

"This city is a symbol of the revolution, it's where it started and where it will end if this city falls," said Gheriani.

Contributing: The Associated Press