War-weary Obama & GOP allies: "..the purpose is not the ouster of Gadhafi but the protection of Libyan civilians .."

"President Barack Obama, in remarks from the White House East Room Friday, pointedly laid out a limited role for the United States in the military intervention authorized by the United Nations on Libya and stressed that the purpose is not the military ouster of Muammar Gadhafi but the protection of Libyan civilians. "In this effort, the United States is prepared to act as part of an international coalition," Obama said. "American leadership is essential, but that does not mean acting alone -- it means shaping the conditions for the international community to act together."
"We will provide the unique capabilities that we can bring to bear to stop the violence against civilians, including enabling our European allies and Arab partners to effectively enforce a no-fly zone," Obama said.
Obama spoke after conferring with Congressional leaders about what he envisioned the U.S. role in Libya being.......
The meeting came after a key GOP ally, ranking Senate Foreign Relations Committee vice chairman  Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), objected to the administration deploying U.S. military personnel or assets for the Libya intervention without first coming to Congress to get a declaration of war. Lugar also wanted the administration to explain how the Libya mission would be paid for..... The French president has shown eagerness to lead the international intervention together with British Prime Minister David Cameron, and a war-weary Washington seems inclined to give them that chance....

Urging Gadhafi to observe a cease-fire, Obama, anxious not to portray the United States as being part of an international coalition trying to oust an Arab ruler by force, said the international coalition's use of force in Libya is not authorized in circumstances beyond "a well-defined goal -- specifically, the protection of civilians in Libya."
Obama is due to leave tonight on a planned five-day trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador, his first extended trip to Latin America as president. The fact that Obama privately told Congressional leaders Friday that U.S. planes would not be involved in enforcing the Libya no-fly zone went some to way explain the White House's insistence all week that Obama planned to proceed with the Latin American trip even as the U.S. seemed to be poised to entering another complicated Middle Eastern intervention."