Massive Tomahawk Strike News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Attack by gadhafi on his own people, and it does appear that they've managed to do that. in fact, the people of benghazi are saying that gadhafi's tanks were, they say, literally minutes away from descending on them, if you like, when this strike began. so, frankly, from the point of view of those people, those rebels in benghazi, from the point of view of the coalition, it didn't happen too soon. >> keir, so, when you talk about what the french jets did yesterday, among the things they did, they attacked the military vehicles, those things on the ground that you're talking about. when you say...

Clearly, was to create a more benign environment so united kingdom, french and u.s. aircraft can operate safely in libyan air space. i think they've probably done that fairly effectively with a massive tomahawk strike, mostly out of the u.s. navy, but also out of british submarine. but alex, a very encouraging change overnight was the next phase of this operation was significant employment of u.s. air force power. so, the b-2 bombers are really a terror weapon that will cause the libyan military to think carefully about staying aligned with gadhafi. we're also going after their tanks and artil...

Protect the libyan citizens. >> want the american people to know that the use of force is not our first choice and it's not a choice that i make lightly, but we cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people that there will be no mercy. make no mistake, today we are part of a broad coalition, we are answering the calls of a threatened people, and we are acting in the interests of the united states and the world. >> meanwhile, this morning gadhafi spoke on libyan television. just his voice could be heard behind the image of a fist crushing a plane with "usa" written across it. gadhafi said...

>> reporter: it seems unlikely. what we do know is that the united states has been in command of this operation, but they are saying at the same time, and have been saying at the same time, that they plan to hand over that command to another member of the coalition, if you like. politically, alex, this is a crucial question because of the history involved and the importance of keeping the arab nations, in particular, on board. it was seen as crucial that this was seen as a strike, as a number of strikes led by a coalition of partners. and i think that's one of the reasons, i think, why you saw...