Obama: We're Not Trying to Kill Gadhafi

President Obama has said Moammar Gadhafi should go, but he apparently doesn't mean it in the most extreme sense. The president told congressional lawmakers today that the military isn't out to assassinate the Libyan leader, reports Politico. “There was a discussion of how we have other ways of regime change,” said one attendee of the briefing, Maryland Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, who couldn't resist using the new buzz word: “It’s not our role to do anything at this point from a kinetic point of view." (Click for more on that "kinetic" thing.)

Hillary Clinton and top Pentagon officials joined Obama in the meeting and conference call, which included top lawmakers such as John Boehner, Eric Cantor, John Kerry, and Nancy Pelosi. In another development, NATO is expected to take over all military operations—not just the no-fly zone—in a matter of days, reports the BBC. Meanwhile, the allies got help from the Arab world, notes the New York Times. A Qatari jet flew a patrol today, and the United Arab Emirates said it would soon send warplanes to do the same. The president is expected to make a speech on the mission Monday evening. (More President Obama stories.)