20110323
press tv
US President Barack Obama says America's military intervention in Libya will be a limited process and Washington is considering other alternatives in dealing with the crisis.

During his visit to the Centeral American country of El Salvador on Tuesday, Obama pointed to lengthy US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have become “enormous burdens” for American troops, and claimed that unlike those wars, Washington's military action in Libya will be “time limited.”

He also insisted that the US is only a part of the coalition and it will “have a very narrow military action,” AP reported.

Obama also claimed that the US has “a long-range policy” to counter the policies of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, “but that is not necessarily going to be accomplished by military means alone.”

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Libya since a US-led military coalition force, which includes contingents from Britain, France and other Western countries, launched aerial attacks on the North African country.

Meanwhile, in a major address on Monday marking the Iranian New Year, Iran's Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called the US-led military intervention in Libya "unacceptable," insisting that the major aim of the move was Western oil interests.

He further argued that if the West was really concerned about the plight of anti-government protesters in Libya, they would act against the Libyan dictator much earlier and not allow the killing of so many so far.

Ayatollah Khamenei also reiterated that the American claim of supporting nations has always served as a deception to promote policy interest and in reality the US has "no mercy" on people of the region.

The US-led military intervention came after forces loyal to the Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi began closing in on opposition-held areas in eastern Libya.

Libyan anti-government forces, inspired by revolutions that toppled authoritarian rulers in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt, are fighting to unseat Gaddafi after suffering under his despotic rule for over 41 years.

The US-led coalition claims they are targeting Gaddafi's air and ground forces, though political analysts argue that the main motive behind the military intrusion of the Western alliance is to ensure its access to vast oil reserves in the North African country.

This is the biggest Western military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that still persists today with the presence of nearly 50,000 US forces there.