The objective of the US military operations in Libya is not regime change, but to protect the civilians from the brutality of a authoritarian ruler, a presidential aide has said.
"We have said repeatedly, that the effort of our military operation is not regime change," Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said.
"It's the Libyan people who are going to make their determinations about the future. We support their aspirations, their democratic aspirations, and have stated that Gaddafi should go because he's lost their confidence," Rhodes said.
Earlier talking to reporters travelling with the US President to Latin America, Rhodes said that after first few days of air strikes against Libya, US and its coalition partners feel that the Libyan leader Muammar Al Gaddafi is not capable of flying.
"We continue to feel -- Qaddafi is not flying -- is not capable of flying. There's been no indication that he's had planes in the air or done anything in the air," he said.
"We have removed that capability from him to date, although we still believe that there are more targets, associated with the establishment of the no-fly zone," he added.
Rhodes said that the Gaddafi's forces have pull back from Benghazi, which is very important given that that was the largest population center that was under imminent danger.
"At the same time, Libyan civilians continue to be threatened in a number of places -- Misurata among them, for instance. So we continue to watch the humanitarian situation very closely," he noted.