U.S. drones, special forces sent to Africa

WASHINGTON -- The White House has put special operations strike forces on standby and moved drones into the skies above North Africa, ready to strike militant targets from Libya to Mali, if investigators can find the al-Qaida-linked group responsible for the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya.

But officials say the administration, with the presidential election looming, is weighing whether the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on al-Qaida is worth the risk that such strikes could elevate the group's profile, alienate governments needed to fight it in the future and do little to slow the growing terror threat in North Africa.

Details on the administration's position and on its search for a possible target were provided by three current and one former administration official, as well as an analyst who was approached by the White House for help. All four, not authorized to discuss the high-level debates publicly, spoke on condition of anonymity.

The dilemma shows the tension of the White House's need to demonstrate it is responding forcefully to al-Qaida, balanced against its long-term plans to develop relationships and trust with local governments and build a permanent U.S. counterterrorist network in the region.

Finding the militants who overwhelmed a small security force at the consulate isn't going to be easy. The key suspects are members of the Libyan militia group Ansar al-Shariah. Its leaders are known to be mostly in northern Mali, where they have seized a territory as large as Texas following a coup in the country's capital.

But U.S. investigators have only loosely linked "one or two names" to the attack, and lack proof that it had been planned, or that the local fighters had help from the larger al-Qaida affiliate, officials say.

If that proof is found, the White House must decide whether to ask Libyan security forces to arrest the suspects with an eye to extradition to the United States for trial, or to target the suspects with U.S. covert action.