all but a couple which have been former members of the word stop back into the north atlantic treaty organization what that means no is another way nato but the west's military has access to military bases air and naval bases throughout the mediterranean. you know on corsica sardinia sicily crete cyprus most every island also the key point that i think your viewers may not know is in the one nine hundred ninety s. as a part of what would become the global expansion of nato several partnership programs they call them or set up one of which is called the mediterranean diet and include seven nations in the middle east and north africa two of them do not know what are the mediterranean israel part but the other five do and they include i'm sorry israel pact borders mediterranean jordan does but the mediterranean dialogue includes morocco tunisia algeria egypt needing libya is the only north african country we're going to train that is not a member of this nato partnership program i use convinced that in both reform washington and brussels whatever regime. they want to enforce to replace well right of

>>> in other libya-related news, defense ministers from the 28 member states of the north atlantic treaty organization, or nato, are due to meet in brussels from thursday to discuss the crisis. >> if gadhafi and his military continue to attack the libyan population systematically, i can't imagine the international community and the united nations stand idly by. >> nato secretary-general anders fogh rasmussen spoke to reporters on monday. rasmussen said the alliance is working out contingency plans for no-fly zones and other possible operations. he stressed that nato's job was to plan for any event. but he also cautioned the alliance has no intention of intervening in libya and it will act in line with decisions made by the u.n. security council. >>> the united nations says about 1 million people in libya and neighboring areas would need emergency aid because of the ongoing violence in the country. u.n. aid officials and emergency relief coordinator valerie amos made an appeal at a news conference in geneva on monday. they asked the international community for $160 million in humanitarian aid. they sai

i think this is a great opportunity to show that here is the north atlantic treaty organization actingith the support of and blessing of the united nations security council resolution with the support of the arab league and other countries in the region who are concerned about the situation. yes, it is somewhat acting as a military agent of that group, but has the capacity and recognition in the world but nato is an effective tool for contributing to a broader international security. this is what the new nato mission statement that was agreed to in november, this is what that new mission statement says. it says that nato can still be about protecting the interests of member states but also about to cheer leading to a broader security, particularly in the plac case were you ever broader u.n. mandate. the number of support it that supported this resolution were many. i think this is the really important moment. i agree with what the calller said. and host: john r. republican in louisiana. -- john is a republican in louisiana. caller: at some point in time you're going to have troops in c

guest: the united states is a member of the north atlantic treaty organization. we have u.s. troops and facilities still in nato. we are morelos the backbone of nato. -- we are more or less the backbone of nato. so nato more or less leans on the united states. natal operates on a consensus. all members have to agree on action. at the top, nato is governed by the council of all of the heads of government of all the nato states. president obama would need at that at the nato summit. below that, foreign ministers meet and below that, there are permanent representatives, ambassadors who sit in brussels on a daily basis, working the policy. then it gives direction to the nato military authorities. the top authority is an american admiral. he is a supreme military commander in nato. he has regional commanders under him to handle the applications -- " an elite operations in local locations. caller: yes. i like to say thank you for your service to the united states of america. i would ask you, is journalist of the united states who are free after the bombing, they were set foree. tho

guest: the united states is a member of the north atlantic treaty organization. we have u.s. troops and facilities still in nato. we are morelos the backbone of nato. -- we are more or less the backbone of nato. so nato more or less leans on the united states. natal operates on a consensus. all members have to agree on action. at the top, nato is governed by the council of all of the heads of government of all the nato states. president obama would need at that at the nato summit. below that, foreign ministers meet and below that, there are permanent representatives ambassadors who sit in brussels on a daily basis, working the policy. then it gives direction to the nato military authorities. the top authority is an american admiral. he is a supreme military commander in nato. he has regional commanders under him to handle the applications -- " an elite operations in local locations. caller: yes. i like to say thank you for your service to the united states of america. i would ask you is journalist of the united states who are free after the bombing, they were set forree. thos

moved to internationalize the military effort, it sought to transfer command to the north atlantic treaty organization, nato, and its commander, who also happens to be an american, admiral stavridis, who stands not only ages the commander of the u.s. forces in europe but as the supreme commander of nato. i understand that the administration has put forward a task force to be commanded, potentially, by a senior canadian general who would command this operation. i understand that diplomacy went we will with regard to the command of the -- well with regard to the command of the antiair operation in this endeavor. but negotiations with regard to the provision of close air support were much more difficult. today i'm not exactly sure who is in command of those operations. is it general hamm at africom is it admiral stavridis as the supreme allied commander of europe? my hope is that we identify one key allied commander who is not just in charge of combat air patrol enforcing a no-fly zone but also close air support to ensure that the rebels are not defeated to a trite armor and artillery from moamma moammar

organization which pledged mutual support to defend north atlantic states from aggression, they've moved from that to military operations reaching from libya to the chinese border in afghanistan. north atlantic treaty organization. we need to know and we need to ask what role french air force general and current supreme allied commander of nato for transportation may have played in the development of operation southern storm and in discussions with the u.s. and the expansion of the u.n. mandate into a nato operation. what has been the role of the u.s. african command and central command in discussions leading up to this conflict? what did the administration know and when did they know it? the united nations security council process is at risk. when its members are not fully informed of all the facts, when they authorize a military operation. it is at risk from nato which is usurping its mandate, the u.n. mandate, without the specific authorization of u.n. security council resolution 1973. now the united states pays 25% of the military expense of nato and nato may be participating in the expansion in exceeding the u.n. mandate. the united nations relies not only on moral authority but on the moral c