{"id":286269,"date":"2011-03-02T02:22:48","date_gmt":"2011-03-02T02:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/"},"modified":"2011-03-02T02:22:48","modified_gmt":"2011-03-02T02:22:48","slug":"u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div readability=\"63.10094451\">  <!-- start feedback link --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/feedback link --><br \/>\n       <!-- Tracking values --><\/p>\n<p><!-- google_ad_section_start --><!--startclickprintinclude-->   <!--endclickprintinclude--> <!--startclickprintexclude--> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"8\">\n<p>By <b>Pam Benson<\/b>, CNN National Security Producer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- google_ad_section_end --><\/p>\n<div readability=\"38.7339055794\"><!-- google_ad_section_start --><!-- CONTENT -->  <!-- REAP --><!--startclickprintexclude--><\/p>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"6\">\n<div readability=\"7\">\n<p>Should U.S. arm Libyan rebels?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--endclickprintexclude--><!-- \/REAP --><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><b>STORY HIGHLIGHTS<\/b><\/p>\n<ul><!-- google_ad_section_start --><\/p>\n<li>U.S. doesn&#8217;t know who opposition leaders are<\/li>\n<li>Amount of violence makes it hard to connect with rebels, official says<\/li>\n<p><!-- google_ad_section_end --><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--endclickprintexclude--> <!--startclickprintinclude--> <\/p>\n<p><b>Washington (CNN)<\/b> &#8212; U.S. officials are having a tough time getting a good read on developments inside Libya.<\/p>\n<p>A U.S. official who wished to remain nameless because the official was not authorized to speak on the record said the situation &#8220;remains chaotic&#8221; in Libya with continued violence by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi against protesters in various parts of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters on Tuesday it&#8217;s unclear how many casualties have been incurred, how many rebels have been killed.<\/p>\n<p>And there&#8217;s considerable ambiguity about the opposition. The U.S. official said it&#8217;s &#8220;unclear who the leaders in the opposition are and that makes it difficult&#8221; for the United States to provide assistance.<\/p>\n<p>The official did say &#8220;the intelligence community is aggressively pursing information on the ground,&#8221; pointing out that the CIA has had a presence in the country for some time.<\/p>\n<p>  <!--startclickprintexclude--><\/p>\n<p><!--endclickprintexclude--><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. official said the answer might lie with reaching out to grassroots organizations like the various tribes who make up Libyan society plus disillusioned military officers.<\/p>\n<p>However, Gates said, you can only speculate on the potential capabilities of the opposition. &#8220;I think it remains to be seen how effectively military leaders who have defected from Gadhafi&#8217;s forces can organize the opposition in the country,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We are watching that unfold, as you are.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. official also said the level of violence in Libya makes it more challenging to connect with the rebels. &#8220;If there were less violence, it would be easier to manage and figure out who to approach.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--endclickprintinclude--><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br \/>\n<!-- \/cnn_strybtmcntnt --><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/cnn_strycntnt --><\/p>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"4.14345991561\">\n<div readability=\"3.76923076923\">\n<p>Part of complete coverage on<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"4.83185840708\">\n<div readability=\"5.63716814159\">\n<p>All the latest on uprisings and protests spreading across North Africa and the Middle East<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"5.15\">\n<div readability=\"6.33846153846\">\n<p>Cartoonists are struggling with how to draw Moammar Gadhafi. He used to be a clown. Now he is a horror<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"5.7037037037\">\n<div readability=\"7.33333333333\">\n<p>CNN examines how common internet, mobile phones and social media sites are in the Mideast and African nations<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"5.33928571429\">\n<div readability=\"6.57142857143\">\n<p>Are you in the Middle East or North Africa? Send iReport your images. Don&#8217;t do anything that could put you at risk<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"5.52108433735\">\n<div readability=\"6.79518072289\">\n<p>Few have asked why the primary leaders of grassroots revolt in Egypt and across the Arab world curiously have not been Islamic organizations<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"6.39344262295\">\n<div readability=\"8.52459016393\">\n<p>For full coverage in Arabic of events in Egypt, Tunisia and the rest of the region, head to CNN Arabic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"5.46319018405\">\n<div readability=\"6.72392638037\">\n<p>Nadia Oweidat and Cynthia Schneider say the determination of regime-toppling protesters will lead to an Arab world grounded in democracy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div readability=\"5.16312056738\">\n<div readability=\"6.35460992908\">\n<p>CNN&#8217;s Nima Elbagir reports on the smuggled videos that are documenting the tales of horror coming out of Libya.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/cnn_strycrcntr --><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/cnn_strycntntrgt --><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>See more here:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/rss.cnn.com\/~r\/rss\/edition_africa\/~3\/VLFK60PZhAY\/index.html\" title=\"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> By Pam Benson , CNN National Security Producer Should U.S. arm Libyan rebels? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"By Pam Benson , CNN National Security Producer Should U.S. arm Libyan rebels?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-02T02:22:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/\"},\"wordCount\":488,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/\",\"name\":\"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-02T02:22:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"By Pam Benson , CNN National Security Producer Should U.S. arm Libyan rebels?","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya","datePublished":"2011-03-02T02:22:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/"},"wordCount":488,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/","name":"U.S. defense secretary says situation unclear in Libya - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-03-02T02:22:48+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/02\/u-s-defense-secretary-says-situation-unclear-in-libya\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}