WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Libya is a more vital interest for Europe than the United States, a former national security adviser said Sunday.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Gen. Jim Jones, President Barack Obama's first security adviser, said of Libya, "I agree that it's not a vital interest in the sense that it affects the vital security of the nation.
"But we are part of an alliance. … And it is in the vital interest of Europeans, when you consider the effects of massive immigration, the effects of terror, the effects of the oil market."
Jones emphasized the joint character of the Libya intervention.
"In the sorties that are being flown now, as I understand it, it's roughly 50-50," he said. "And it's going to go down to where the Americans are going to be supporting and reconnaissance, search and rescue, intelligence, refueling, things like that.
"There are 40-some-odd ships off the coast; only 10 are American. … It's encouraging to see allies stepping up at a level that we haven't seen before."
As for the Libyan rebels, he said, "I think the first thing that has to be done is to find out who they are. ... The United States has not done that yet."
