missions over libya. that s down from 87% when air strikes all started. the president is once again pledging that there will be no ground invasion of libya. he also shared his exit strategy with spanish language station univision. land invasion is out of the question, what s the exit strategy? land invasion is out of the question, completely, absolutely. the exit strategy will be executed this week in the sense that we will be pulling back from our much more active efforts to shape the environment. we ll still be in a support role. we ll still be providing jamming and intelligence and other assets that are unique to us. just as the president says we re pulling back, more american forces are joining the fight. in my hometown in norfolk, virginia, today there were emotional good-byes as the baton
question. absolutely. and the exit strategy will be executed this week in the sense that we will be pulling back from our much more active efforts to shape the environment. how do you engage in what is combat now in effect with a crazy dictator like gadhafi while you are announcing what you will not do? well, i think the administration is playing a little bit too much to those in the congress and in the american people who are worried about us stretched too thin, emphasizing a bit too much things like there won t be a ground invasion. no one expects a ground invasion, or that other people will be paying for this. i think you re right. it is difficult to survive war in a democracyer wadvantage. but in the end, i think the public will stay with this. the trick is for the administration to distinguish between short term and long term goals. short term goal is what was
specifics from the president about his goals in libya. john hendren has the latest from washington. good morning, john. reporter: good morning. as the military operation in libya enters its sixth day, at least in public, moammar gadhafi is showing no sign of giving up. sources say obama administration officials have told european allies they want to hand off control of the international operation in libya this week. nato is already activating ships and planes in the mediterranean, a move president obama describes as u.s. exit strategy. the exit strategy will be executed this week in the sense that we will be pulling back from our much more active efforts to shape the environment. reporter: in benghazi they re cheering a no-fly zone as airborne life line. pro-democracy rebels are holding onto territory in eastern libya as moammar gadhafi s air force stands by. their advance is stalled. secretary of state hillary clinton calls it the humanitarian catastrophe that did not happen.
any of the burdens. if you re going to take that position and say you want to be just a supporter, then you have to deal with the fact that in the international community, without american leadership, it is very complex. one of the reasons why the united states ends up taking the lead, say, in kosovo or in bosnia or in iraq or in afghanistan is because absent american leadership, these organizations often don t function. you know, one of the acronyms for nato is needs america to act or to operate, n-a-t-o. but right now they can t quite get it through nato because the united states isn t committing to its normal role as running the operation and bearing roughly half the costs and risks. let me ask you, the other day in el salvador, we had a news conference with the president, i asked him what the exit strategy was for the u.s. from this military action in libya. and essentially what he said is,
foreign policy. they re literally criticizing every move he makes no hatter what move he makes. right. it s kind of ridiculous. in an interview with the spanish language network univision, president obama executed the exit strategy. the execution strategy will be this week, we ll be pulling back, we ll still be in a support role, providing jamming and intelligence and other assets that are unique to us. all right. the president also insists there was not a double standard when it comes to removing from dictators and leaving others alone. i don t think there s a double standard. this is a unique situation in which you had the international community come together to pass a series of resolutions in record time with extraordinary