America and its allies took their first shots at Moammar Khadafy Saturday after the Libyan dictator defied his own cease-fire in a frenzied effort to crush rebel forces.
A U.S. warship fired more than 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan air defenses soon after French warplanes obliterated several of Khadafy's tanks.
Two American destroyers and three submarines were near Libya's coast to support what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "all necessary measures."
The Pentagon said missile strikes hit 20 sites inside Libya at military installations at or near the Mediterranean coast.
President Obama, traveling in Brazil, confirmed U.S. involvement in a "limited" mission to enforce a U.N. no-fly zone.
"We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy," Obama said.
Hours after the attack on his country, Khadafy told Libyan state TV that the strikes were unjustified, calling it "simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war."
The move against Libya by the U.S., France, Britain, Canada and Italy - backed by Arab nations - came after an emergency summit in Paris.
While 22 top leaders were plotting the course, Khadafy issued an open letter in which he called the no-fly zone "invalid."
Fearing a Western onslaught, Khadafy on Friday declared a cease-fire against the rebels - but it was a predictable farce.
Early Saturday, his forces shelled and stormed the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. As bodies piled up in the blood-spattered hospitals, opposition leaders and civilians begged for backup from the international coalition.
In the western city of Misrata, residents said they were also were shelled again. Zintan in western Libya was being bombarded and bracing for worse.
"There are tanks heading towards the southern entrance of Zintan, around 20 to 30 tanks, which are hitting the city and residential areas in the south," a witness told Al Arabiya.
The blitz played out while 22 world leaders, including Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, plotted how and when to move against Khadafy.
The announcement hours later that the French Air Force was soaring over Libya raised spirits in rebel territory.
"People are now optimistic and relieved. We are very grateful both to France and the EU for stepping in," a man in Misrata told Reuters.
"Khadafy's forces have carried out some barbaric acts here."
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