Two European aircraft carriers, the French nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle (R91) and Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi (551), entered the Libyan theater March 22 as the Western coalition prepared for the fourth day of air and cruise missile strikes against Libya. Their arrival signals that the coalition will soon see a transfer of command from the United States to Europe. The problem, however, is that it is still unclear what shape the European command structure will take. France has proposed the creation of a "political body" comprising European and Arab coalition members to supervise the intervention. But it is unclear how the operation will be led tactically or whether NATO's command and control structures will be used despite NATO's refusal to offer its political consent to the intervention, the likely scenario at the moment.
