Warning that Libya is at the crossroads of peaceful democracy and civil war, the United States has vowed to press leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to quit by squeezing him economically and militarily.
US defence leaders said imposing a no-fly zone over Libya would be "extraordinarily" complex and Nato allies have yet to agree on any military intervention in the crisis. Col Gaddafi has been fighting a bloody rearguard action against a pro-democracy uprising now in its third week, with at least 1,000 people reported killed and 100,000 people fleeing to neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.
"In the years ahead, Libya could become a peaceful democracy, or it could face protracted civil war, or it could descend into chaos," US Secretary of State Hillary told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"The stakes are high."
Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said last week that Libya faces civil war and "rivers of blood.
