BENGHAZI, Libya — Sen. John McCain, on a visit to rebel-controlled eastern Libya on Friday, urged the U.S. and its allies to increase airstrikes and facilitate weapons deliveries to bolster the insurgent cause, a call for stepped-up intervention that clashes with the Obama administration’s more cautious approach to the conflict.
McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged official U.S. recognition of the opposition leadership here “as the legitimate voice of the Libyan people.”
And he said “we should take out Gadhafi’s television station,” referring to the government channel broadcasting from Tripoli, the capital.
“Let’s face it: This is not a fair fight,” the Arizona senator said after meeting with opposition leaders. “Those who are struggling for liberation are outgunned.”
A military standoff prevails in Libya. Neither the rebels nor loyalist forces have been able to advance significantly in recent days.
Western leaders have argued that airstrikes and other steps taken in Libya were in accordance with U.N. guidelines calling for the protection of civilians. But fearful of being drawn more deeply into a civil war, they have been hesitant to comply with repeated rebel requests for heavy weapons.
McCain reiterated his opposition to deploying U.S. ground forces to assist rebels trying to depose the longtime Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi..
But he did urge the United States and other countries to help deliver more arms to the rebels. He cited the precedent of the 1980s war in Afghanistan, when the U.S. funneled arms through Pakistan to Islamist rebels fighting a Soviet-backed regime.
“Same thing we did in Afghanistan when they were fighting against the Russians,” McCain said. “Weapons delivery can be facilitated.”
McCain said he was not worried about Islamic extremism taking hold among the Libyan opposition, warning that allowing the current standoff to continue could incubate more extreme religious sentiment.
“If there is a stalemate here, it could open the door to radical Islamic fundamentalism, because of the frustration that thousands and thousands of young people will feel,” McCain said.
In Misrata on Friday, rebel fighters consolidated control of a key building in a part of the city that had been used by Gadhafi fighters to terrorize the port community with mortars, rockets, cluster bombs and sniper fire.
The rebels occupied the building that had been abandoned by Gadhafi gunmen a day earlier. The building is on a commercial boulevard that has become the city’s main battleground. But Gadhafi fighters continued to control a vegetable market and Misrata’s old main hospital, while gunfire, artillery and rockets were fired throughout the day.
