TRIPOLI, Libya – A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed a "long war" after the U.S. and European militaries blasted his forces with airstrikes and over 100 cruise missiles early Sunday, hitting air defenses and at least two major air bases and shaking the Libyan capital with explosions and anti-aircraft fire. Despite the strikes, Gadhafis troops lashed back, bombarding the rebel-held city of Misrata with artillery and tanks on Sunday, the opposition reported.
In the overnight barrage, ship-fired Tomahawk cruise missiles and bombs and missiles from an international arsenal of warplanes including American B-2 stealth bombers and F-15 and F-16 fighter-bombers rained down on Libyan targets — including ground forces — in the widest international military effort since the Iraq war. The air assault came as Gadhafis overwhelming firepower was threatening to crush the month-old rebellion against his 41-year rule. State television said 48 people were killed in the strikes. The strikes gave immediate, if temporary, relief to the besieged rebel capital, Benghazi, in eastern Libya.
Airstrikes, apparently from French aircraft, devastated a Libyan tank force 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Benghazi. At least seven demolished tanks were still smoldering in a field hours later, five of them with their turrets and treads blown off, alongside two charred armored personnel carriers and around a dozen damaged jeeps and SUVs of the type often used by Gadhafi fighters. Jubilant rebel fighters climbed on the remains on the tanks, shooting assault rifles in the air in celebration. It was not known how many people were killed in the strike — any bodies had been taken away in the morning — but shredded boots and foam mattresses and tomato paste cans strewn around the scene suggested the Gadhafi forces had been camped at the site when they were hit.
U.S. and European military officials said the assault was only the first wave in the international operation in Libya. But already there were signs of differences over the goals. France took a more assertive stance, suggesting the allies intervention must ultimately lead to Gadhafis downfall. The U.S. military appeared more wary of overtly taking a side and getting pulled deeper into Libyas conflict, with the top American U.S. officer saying Gadhafis ouster wasnt necessarily the goal.