President Obama Confronts Libya Concerns
BLITZER: Just 24 hours ago, right here in THE SITUATION ROOM, the NATO secretary general told me exclusively that the alliance was set to take over command of the no-fly zone over Libya. Today, we have confirmation that NATO is moving forward with a broader command role.</s>GEN. CARTER HAM, COMMANDER, U.S. AFRICA COMMAND: Well, thank you for having me, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: You're still in command of the U.S. mission over Libya, is that right?</s>HAM: That's correct.</s>BLITZER: When does that change? When does NATO take over?</s>HAM: Well, NATO has already taken over one piece, which is the arms embargo. That's principally maritime. We expect that NATO will take over the no-fly zone this weekend. And then the next piece, the third and final piece, is the mission to protect civilians. NATO -- it is my understanding NATO has agreed to that in principle and will, this weekend, decide on the -- the procedures and the timing of accepting that mission. But I'm -- I think that will probably occur in the very near future.</s>BLITZER: So when NATO takes overall command of everything, assuming that happens -- and that's still an assumption right now -- what is your job and the job of the U.S. military's Africa Command?</s>HAM: Well, Libya is -- is one of the 53 countries in -- in Africa for which this command is responsible. So we still have a -- a decided interest in security matters in Libya. But once NATO assumes responsibility for those missions, then I would have -- I would no longer have a direct command authority relationship with the forces engaged in NATO operations.</s>BLITZER: Do you have a clear understanding, General, of what the mission is in Libya right now?</s>HAM: I -- I do. It is threefold; it is execute the arms embargo, it is execute a no-fly zone, and it is to protect civilians.</s>BLITZER: Is it also to get rid of Gadhafi?</s>HAM: It is not. It is very specifically not that mission.</s>BLITZER: Why not, since the president has repeatedly said that the U.S. policy is that Gadhafi must go?</s>HAM: It is, indeed, U.S. policy that -- that the current leader of Libya should no longer be that leader, that he has lost legitimacy, but it has also been a determination that we will not seek to achieve that policy end through military means.</s>BLITZER: But you work for the president of the United States. He's the commander-in-chief. You report to the president, and if he says Gadhafi must go, isn't it your responsibility to implement that policy?</s>HAM: It is the policy. But the president has also stated very clearly, to me and to others, that we will not seek to achieve that policy goal through military means.</s>BLITZER: How will the U.S. achieve that policy goal?</s>HAM: Well, I think by other ways. By -- by economic sanctions, certainly by diplomatic effort. There is -- there are a number of ways that -- that the international community can apply pressure on -- on the current leader in Libya. But we've -- but specifically, to me, it is not a mission to cause regime -- regime change in Libya.</s>BLITZER: So no regime change as far as your mission is concerned, even though the president has repeatedly said Gadhafi must go. So it's still a little vague, in my mind. How will you know success in Libya when it occurs?</s>HAM: Well, I think we have achieved, already, a large degree of success. We -- we do have an arms embargo, we do have a no-fly zone, and we have halted a very serious assault by Libyan regime forces toward the city of Benghazi. I don't know how many people we saved in doing that, but I know we saved some. We have an ongoing effort to where we see regime forces attacking civilians, that we take military action to prevent that to the degree that we can. And we have had some success. Have we had complete success? No. And it breaks my heart that we -- that that's the situation that we're in, because we find these regime forces taking cover inside built-up areas where they know, because of our concern for civilian casualties, that -- that we won't -- we won't strike in there. So it's a tough, tough situation right now, but I think we have achieved a large measure of success. A second part of a mission is to -- is, indeed, to transition this to -- to NATO, and we're preparing -- we have transitioned one part of the mission and I think in the coming days we'll transition the other parts of the mission --</s>BLITZER: Will --</s>HAM: -- and we'll do that seamlessly.</s>BLITZER: Will NATO do what the U.S., the British, the French, the Canadians have already been doing, go after Libyan ground forces, attack them from the air?</s>HAM: It is my understanding that NATO has agreed in principle to accept that mission. And in the coming days, they'll decide exactly how and when they want to execute that mission. It's important to remember that the United States is a NATO member. We participate in those discussions. And I'm confident that those -- those discussions will, indeed, end with a satisfactory solution for NATO to accept this mission.</s>BLITZER: But in the meantime, until NATO is fully on board for that part of the mission, the U.S. and the others will continue to pound Libyan ground forces that may endanger civilians, is that right?</s>HAM: It -- until NATO -- until I am relieved of this mission, that's -- that -- our mission, my mission is to protect civilians, and we will take actions consistent with our imperatives of being precise, being very discrete, being conscious of civilian casualties.</s>BLITZER: Much more of the interview coming up with General Ham. I'll specifically ask him whether the U.S. mission also includes if they get actionable intelligence with the U.S., and its partners go ahead and either capture or kill Gadhafi. Much more of the interview coming up at the top of the hour. You'll want to hear and see this. Also, new information about alleged abuse and torture of protesters in Egypt, even after the fall of the embattled leader, Hosni Mubarak. We'll have the details. Ivan Watson is in Cairo. Plus, inside a nuclear reactor here in the United States much like the one damaged in the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Is it prepared for the same kind of emergency? And Boston-born actress Eliza Dushku raised $30,000 for her 30th birthday, all for children in Uganda. She talks about the trip that prompted her to get involved in this "Impact Your World."</s>ELIZA DUSHKU, THARCE-GULU: I'm Eliza Dushku, and we can make an impact on child soldier trauma recover with THARCE-Gulu. I got involved through my mother. We had gone to Uganda together to meet and hear the stories of former child soldiers. Through sharing stories, there's that chance of recovery. And our center hopes to use things like film and art therapy to help these children rehabilitate and reintegrate into their communities. Join the movement, "Impact Your World," CNN.com/impact.