Obama signs secret order giving the CIA the green light to give covert support to Libyan rebels



CIA helped rescue a crew member from the downed jet in Libya



President and allies speak openly of arming the rebels

The White House said it is assessing 'all types of assistance' for rebels battling Gaddafi's troops.

Barack Obama has secretly sent the CIA in to Libya to help rescue a crew member of a U.S. fighter jet that crashed.

The White House also said it was assessing 'all types of assistance' for rebels battling Moammar Gaddafi's troops.



The President has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The revelation comes as Obama and allies talked openly of arming the rebels who, despite the UN-backed no-fly zone, are on the verge of being overrun by Gaddafi's superior military force.

Covert help is coming: Shells explode near a column of rebel vehicles as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi attacked them near Bin Jawad in eastern Libya today

Approval: The President, seen here today, has sunk to his lowest approval rating yet - just 42 per cent. The news comes as a poll found 47 per cent of Americans disagreed with U.S. involvement in Libya

It is not clear what covert operations the CIA will carry out in Libya. The White House and the agency have refused to confirm it will take a role in the revolution, and Obama has insisted the U.S. will not attempt regime change in the country, but will merely support the rebels in their battle.

Government officials revealed the President has given the CIA the green light to help the rebels in what is known as a presidential 'finding', or a 'Mother may I' order.



Obama signed the order within the last two or three weeks, four U.S. government sources told Reuters.

Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency.



The President and other U.S. and allied officials also spoke openly about the possibility of sending arms supplies to Gaddafi's opponents in their battle against better-equipped government forces.

The United States is part of a coalition, with Nato members and some Arab states, which is conducting air strikes on Libyan government forces under a U.N. mandate aimed at protecting civilians opposing Gaddafi.

In interviews with American TV networks last night, Obama said the objective was for Gaddafi to 'ultimately step down' from power - but insisted the U.S. would not make the same mistakes it had in Iraq and openly attempt regime change.



No looking back: A Libyan rebel walks on the front line outside of Bin Jawaad, east of Sirte, central Libya. Intelligence shows that despite the no-fly zone, the rebels are still no match for Gaddafi's forces

He spoke of applying 'steady pressure, not only militarily but also through these other means' to force Gaddafi out.

Obama said the U.S. had not ruled out providing military hardware to rebels.



'It's fair to say that if we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could. We're looking at all our options at this point,' the President told ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer.

WHEN THE CIA GOES IN: WHAT IS A 'MOTHER MAY I' ORDER? People familiar with U.S. intelligence procedures said that Presidential covert action 'findings' are normally crafted to provide broad authorization for a range of potential U.S. government actions to support a particular covert objective.



In order for specific operations to be carried out under the provisions of such a broad authorization -- for example the delivery of cash or weapons to anti-Gaddafi forces -- the White House also would have to give additional 'permission' allowing such activities to proceed.



Former officials say these follow-up authorizations are known in the intelligence world as 'Mother may I' findings.



In 2009 Obama gave a similar authorization for the expansion of covert U.S. counter-terrorism actions by the CIA in Yemen. The White House does not normally confirm such orders have been issued.



Because U.S. and allied intelligence agencies still have many questions about the identities and leadership of anti-Gaddafi forces, any covert U.S. activities are likely to proceed cautiously until more information about the rebels can be collected and analysed, officials said.



U.S. officials monitoring events in Libya say that at present, neither Gaddafi's forces nor the rebels, who have asked the West for heavy weapons, appear able to make decisive gains.

While U.S. and allied airstrikes have seriously damaged Gaddafi's military forces and disrupted his chain of command, officials say, rebel forces remain disorganized and unable to take full advantage of western military support.

The news came as a new poll published today found nearly half of Americans were opposed to U.S. military involvement in Libya.

Voters oppose the U.S. involvement in Libya by 47-41 per cent, according to the survey.



The Qunnipiac survey also uncovered warning signs for Obama over his wider political prospects, with the President stooping to his lowest-ever approval rating - 42 per cent - down from 46 per cent earlier this month.

The Quinnipiac University poll released today showed that 48 per cent of American voters disapprove of Obama's job performance.

Fifty per cent think he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012, compared with 42 per cent who approve and 41 per cent who feel he does deserve to be re-elected.

And for a man known for his oratory skills, 58 per cent of voters say Obama has not clearly stated U.S. goals in Libya.

Pundits will have to await more polls due out over the coming days to see whether Obama's handling of the Libya crisis has hurt his popularity and dented his overall approval ratings.

The Quinnipiac survey was completed on Monday evening, as Obama made a major televised address to the American people to defend his Libya strategy against criticism that it lacked focus and a clear end-game.

Though it did not record reaction to his speech, the poll did reveal clear anxieties in public opinion about the Libya operation.

Looking ahead to the 2012 election for President, do you feel that Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected, or do you feel that he does not deserve to be re-elected?

Experts have said failure to dislodge Gaddafi could lead to a bloody stalemate and require prolonged Western-led military action to protect civilians.

And with memories of the prolonged conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan still fresh, 74 per cent of voters were very or somewhat concerned that the United States will get stuck in a long-term military conflict in Libya.

As if to realise those fears, Gaddafi's forces hammered rebels with tanks and rockets today, turning their rapid advance into a panicked retreat.



Opposition forces ceded land and a series of oil towns as quickly as they had taken them after the dictator's forces unleashed rockets and artillery on lightly armed rebel forces.

Contrast: As the President's approval took a pounding, Libyan rebel forces fled under the weight of Gaddafi loyalist's artillery. Here a rebel pick up truck can be seen fleeing from Ras Lanuf as Gaddafi forces overran the Libyan key oil town

As well as unsettling voters, the Libya campaign has also intensified fears in Congress about the high cost of military activities overseas as it emerged U.S. forces have spent over $600million so far in policing the no-fly zone.

The cost, which works out at roughly $5 for every individual American taxpayer, is mostly down to spending on bombs dropped over Libya.

In his speech last night Obama ruled out targeting Gaddafi with a warning that assassination would be a costly error.

'To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq,' he said in a televised address to the nation at Fort McNair in Washington, as he explained why the U.S. has become immersed yet again in a war with another Muslim nation.

While saying he hoped the allied military action in Libya would help 'hasten the day that Gaddafi leaves power', he said the Bush administration's decision to topple Saddam Hussein in Iraq took eight years and cost thousands of U.S. and Iraqi lives and nearly a trillion dollars.



Underdogs: A Libyan rebel prepares ammunition on the frontline outside of Bin Jawaad. Obama and his allies have spoken openly of arming the struggling rebels

For days he has come under increasing fire from Republicans and war-weary critics who accused him of meddling in the affairs of a country that offered little direct threat to the U.S.

But ten days into a conflict many Americans say they do not understand, Obama laid out a moral imperative for intervening against a murderous tyrant, and doing so without the lengthy international dithering that allowed so much blood to be spilled in Bosnia.

The President was careful to underline that having helped spearhead the military bid to spike Gaddafi’s guns, America would now be pulling back to a support role.

He announced that Nato would take command over the entire operation tomorrow, keeping his pledge to get the U.S. out of the lead but offering no estimate on when the conflict might end.

It is not clear how the CIA's efforts will aid the Nato command.



The President was careful not to describe the military campaign as a ‘war’ but he offered an expansive case for why he believed it was in the U.S. national interest to lead a ‘sprawling coalition’ to help protect the skies over Libya.

In blunt terms, Obama said the response had stopped Gaddafi's forces in their tracks and halted a slaughter that could have shaken the stability of an entire region.

‘Tonight, we have stopped Gaddafi’s deadly advance’ he declared.



