The general in charge of enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya swears that he’s not actively aiding the rebels there. His pilots are just, um, blowing up Moammar Gadhafi’s tanks. Get your razor blade out, because it’s time to slice some answers mighty thin.

Gen. Carter Ham, head of U.S. Africa Command, told reporters at the Pentagon that he’s interpreting the United Nations Security Council mandate — ground Libyan aircraft; protect civilians — narrowly. He’s had “no official communication” with the Libyan rebels currently pushing west from Benghazi. “We do not provide close air support for the opposition forces,” he said, even though his planes have attacked pro-Gadhafi loyalists. “We protect civilians… We have no mission to support opposition forces if they should engage in offensive operations.”

But even Ham said it’s not always easy to distinguish those missions. Some in the opposition are the civilians that the United Nations resolution authorizing the no-fly zone protects — like those protecting “their homes, their families, their businesses.” Deciding who’s a rebel and who’s a bystander is entirely up to the coalition pilot flying overhead.

Ham conceded that it’s a “very problematic situation.” Pilots supporting the no-fly mission are advised to be “very judicious” in when they’ll fire on Gadhafi’s forces below — opening fire only when they’re sure civilians are under threat. “Sometimes these are situations that brief much better at a headquarters than they do in the cockpit of an aircraft,” Ham said.
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