WASHINGTON — The Pentagon and State Department are rushing to help the Libyan government create a commando force to combat Islamic extremists like the ones who killed the U.S. ambassador in Libya last month and to help counter the country’s fractious militias, according to internal government documents.
The Obama administration quietly won Congress’ approval last month to shift about $8 million from Pentagon operations and counterterrorism aid budgeted for Pakistan to begin building an elite Libyan force over the next year that could ultimately number about 500 troops. U.S. Special Operations forces could conduct much of the training, as they have with counterterrorism forces in Pakistan and Yemen, U.S. officials said.
The effort to establish the new unit was already under way before the assault that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, Libya. But the plan has taken on new urgency since then as the new civilian government in Tripoli tries to assert control over the country’s militant factions.
A final decision on the program has not been made, and many details, like the size, composition and mission of the force, are still to be determined.
