By ADAM GOLDMAN. AND DONNA CASSATA. The Associated Press. WASHINGTON -- The CIA has sent small teams of operatives into Libya and helped rescue a crew member of a U.S. fighter jet that crashed, and the White House said yesterday it was assessing "all types of assistance" for rebels battling MoammarGadhafi's troops.. Battlefield setbacks are hardening the U.S. view that the poorly equipped opposition probably is incapable of prevailing without decisive Western intervention, a senior U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press.. Lawmakers, in private briefings with top Obama administration officials, asked tough questions about the cost of the military operation and expressed concern about the makeup of the rebels.. Members of Congress quoted officials as saying the U.S. military role would be limited, and heard President Barack Obama's director of national intelligence compare the rebelforces to a "pick-up basketball team.". "No decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any groups in Libya," said White House press secretary Jay Carney. "We're not ruling it out or ruling it in.". The CIA's precise role in Libya is not clear. Intelligence experts said the CIA would have sent officials to make contact with the opposition and assess the strength and needs of the rebel forces in the event Obama decided to arm them.. An American official and a former U.S. intelligence officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, told the AP about the CIA's involvement in Libya after the agency was forced to close its station in Tripoli.. They said CIA helped safely recover the F-15E Strike Eagle's weapons specialist, who was first picked up by rebels after the crash March 21. The pilot was rescued by Marines.. They suffered only minor injuries, the military has said. Officials have declined to say what mission the F-15 was on at the time it went down. The crew ejected after the aircraftmalfunctioned during a mission against a Libyan missile site.. The former intelligence officer said some CIA officers had been staging from the agency's station in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.. Obama said in a national address Monday night that U.S. troops would not be used on the ground in Libya. The statement allowed for wiggle room as the president explores options in case he decides to use covert action to ship arms to the rebels and train them. That would require a presidential finding.
On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Credit: Newsday
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Credit: Newsday
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
