President Obama has announced strikes by 110 U.S. Tomahawk missiles against air defense targets in Tripoli and Misurata in support of a U.N. resolution aimed at Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi. Obama stated his decision for the strikes was based on the failure of pro-Gadhafi forces to honor a cease-fire demanded by the resolution. He has also stated multiple times that U.S. ground forces will not be engaged in the U.N. sanctioned operation. Although a key member of a coalition that includes Great Britain, France and Canada along with some Arab nations, it is anticipated that U.S. participation in Operation Odyssey Dawn will be a subordinate role limited to missiles, drones and electronic warfare measures.In a message delivered while on a visit to Brazil, Obama stated that the U.S. “cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his own people that there will be no mercy.”