WSJ: Action Could Start At Any Time As UN Approves No-Fly Zone Over Libya

After several weeks of deliberation and in response to gains made by Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in recent days, the United Nations has decided to take action, imposing a no-fly zone over Libya and, in one draft, permitting the use of “all necessary measures” to help save lives during the conflict. With the resolution passed, some sources are saying Libya is hours away from receiving direct military intervention.

With only China, Russia, Germany, India, and Brazil abstaining from the vote, the UN Security Council voted to implement the the resolution, which opposition leader had been calling for in Libya as Gaddafi’s noose threatened to tie around the rebel capital city of Benghazi. CNN explains the more practical implications of this:

U.S. military officials have said that a no-fly zone would typically be enforced by fighter jets whose speed and altitude make it difficult to target Gadhafi’s helicopters and that it would not halt the heavy artillery the regime is using on the ground.

A draft version of a proposed resolution goes beyond a no-fly zone. It includes language saying U.N. member states could “take all necessary measures … to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force.”

It also condemns the “gross and systematic violation of human rights, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and summary executions.”

Fox News’ coverage of the announcement (citing the Wall Street Journal below: