<p>"This is not a question of whether we or our allies can do this. We can do it," Gates told reporters aboard his plane after a visit to Bahrain.<br /><br />"The question is whether it's a wise thing to do and that's the discussion that's going on at a political level," he said.<br /><br />Gates, who has emerged as a skeptic on taking military action in Libya within President Barack Obama's administration, said last week that a no-fly zone would be a major operation and suggested it could provoke an anti-Western backlash in the region.<br /><br />But he said Saturday that he wanted to make clear that the US military and allied countries had the capacity to shut down the Libyan regime's air force if ordered.<br /><br />"If we are directed to impose a no-fly zone, we have the resources to do it. I just want to make clear we have the capacity to do it."<br /><br />At a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Thursday in Brussels, the alliance delayed any decision on launching a no-fly zone against Libya and called for more military planning.</p>
<p>"This is not a question of whether we or our allies can do this. We can do it," Gates told reporters aboard his plane after a visit to Bahrain.<br /><br />"The question is whether it's a wise thing to do and that's the discussion that's going on at a political level," he said.<br /><br />Gates, who has emerged as a skeptic on taking military action in Libya within President Barack Obama's administration, said last week that a no-fly zone would be a major operation and suggested it could provoke an anti-Western backlash in the region.<br /><br />But he said Saturday that he wanted to make clear that the US military and allied countries had the capacity to shut down the Libyan regime's air force if ordered.<br /><br />"If we are directed to impose a no-fly zone, we have the resources to do it. I just want to make clear we have the capacity to do it."<br /><br />At a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Thursday in Brussels, the alliance delayed any decision on launching a no-fly zone against Libya and called for more military planning.</p>