With U.S. and coalition forces bombarding Libya leader Muammer al-Qaddafi’s forces from the sea and air, the cost for the first day alone of the operation cost well over $100 million with the total price tag expected to grow much higher the longer the strikes continue, analysts said.

Is the U.S. prepared for mass evacuations within 50 miles of nuclear plants? Is it even ready for the 10-mile radius currently on the books? A small sample of the questions the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is addressing after Japan's nuclear crisis.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the escalating military campaign in Libya was off to a strong start, but he said that he doesn't believe the U.S.-led coalition should work to kill Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi or push for the de facto partition of the country.

A day into a military campaign in Libya he had said he wanted to avoid, President Obama finds himself facing backpedaling allies abroad and doubts at home about the scope of the mission.

Seeking to minimize both the scope of the military campaign in Libya and American involvement there, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said on Sunday that dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi could feasibly outlast a coalition operation launched this weekend to protect Libyan rebels.

The Obama administration has tried to take a supporting role when it comes to Libya. But the war against the Qaddafi regime is already looking like it will be U.S.-led and American-dominated.

Drawn toward an important inflection point in his presidency this week, President Obama revealed none of the lead-with-the-chin swagger of his predecessor. Playing to type, he adopted, instead, the mien of the reluctant warrior.

As a fleet of French airplanes lacerated a column of Libyan army vehicles near Benghazi Saturday, President Obama stuck to his pre-arranged schedule in Brazil, receiving whispered updates from his aides.

President Obama leaves on Friday night for his first visit to South America, a trip that he hopes will  buttress the U.S. economic recovery while also sending a strong signal that Washington is ready to work with a resurgent Latin America that is increasingly eager to flex its newfound economic and political muscle.