Obama says Qadhafi should leave ... Intervention still kept as option ... RC-Southwest commander bullish on his part of Afghanistan ... Report: EADS won’t protest tanker deal

OBAMA CALLED FOR QADHAFI TO STEP DOWN, and he echoed SecState Clinton that military intervention, including a no-fly zone, remains an option. Obama also said on Thursday he would authorize military flights for Egyptians who have fled the violence to get back to their homes, although there weren’t many early details yet as to what that will involve.

The president was asked whether the American and international hesitation about how to intervene in Libya might create a bloody stalemate between Qadhafi and the rebels, with back-and-forth clashes but no way for either side to break the deadlock.

“That is something that we are obviously considering,” Obama said. “So what I want to make sure of is that the United States has full capacity to act potentially rapidly if the situation deteriorated in such a way that you had a humanitarian crisis on our hands, or a situation in which civilians were – defenseless civilians were finding themselves trapped and in great danger.”

THAT COULD MEAN TASKING FOR THE MARINES and aircraft aboard the Kearsarge and the Ponce, if things go really bad and the U.S. decides to step in. A top Pentagon spokesman, Marine Col. Dave Lapan, confirmed that once the ships arrive off Libya they’re going to hold station for the time being – with underway replenishment, they could stay there for a long while.

MORE OPTIMISM ON AFGHANISTAN – Helmand Province, once synonymous with heavy U.S. losses and stubbornly resilient Taliban insurgents, now is as safe and prosperous as it’s ever been, said Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, commander of RC-Southwest. The regional governor travels from town to town on the new roads, by car, even though that could have been suicide six month ago, Mills told reporters via satellite on Thursday. The new schools are bursting with kids, convening three classes a day. For the first time ever, there are books and music for sale in the bazaars, Mills said.

He was careful to use Official Doctrinal Caveat No. 1 – the situation is “fragile,” and it could roll back – but overall Mills trumped even Mattis for ooh-rah confidence about his portion of Afghanistan. Mills’s Marines, soldiers and other troops have denied the local Taliban their traditional winter respite, he said; in years past, fighters and leaders could use the cold months to rest and regroup, some retreating to Pakistan. But not this time – ISAF in the southwest has used the winter to keep up unrelenting pressure on the Taliban, Mills said, denying it money, weapons and materiel.

More from him below

ALLEGED WIKI-LEAKER JAILED NAKED – Pfc Bradley Manning’s lawyer says it was “degrading and inexcusable” for his client to have been left without his clothes for several hours, the NYT’s Charlie Savage reports. A Marine spokesman said he couldn’t explain the situation without violating Manning’s privacy. http://nyti.ms/iaV7VW  

EADS PROBABLY WON’T FILE A PROTEST, report Reuters’ Tim Hepher and Andrea Shalal-Esa, citing company officials. The company’s top directors hope there’ll be future chances for big Pentagon deals. http://reut.rs/eJMtBO  

Thanks for sticking with Morning Defense through another incredibly hectic week. We’ll be back before sunrise on Monday – what should we be writing about? Send your tips, events and comments to pewing@politico.com .

** A message from Boeing: Boeing is honored to be selected by the United States Air Force to design, develop and manufacture the KC-46A aerial refueling aircraft. The KC-46A will deliver advanced capabilities in a more efficient, more affordable aircraft, providing maximum value to the warfighter and the nation. **

WHO’S WHERE WHEN – Gates speaks to cadets at the Air Force Academy … DepSecDef Lynn presides over the change of authority ceremony this morning at 11 for the Joint IED Defeat Organization, at which Army Lt. Gen. Mike Oates will yield responsibility to Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero … Roughead travels to Gulfport, Miss., to meet with sailors … Mabus travels to Cambridge, Mass., where he’ll ink an agreement with Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust returning NROTC to the school … Casey travels to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., for the pre-command course and Command and General Staff College briefs … McHugh has meetings in the Building … as does Schwartz … as does Donley

FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS to POLITICO’s Jen DiMascio, who is shifting her flag to AvWeek. While your correspondent has been shackled to a desk in the fluorescent Skinner Box known as the Pentagon press room, Jen has ranged Washington like a cavalry scout, interviewing newsmakers, observing the scene up on the Hill and contributing enormous value to this report.

“It’s been an honor and a privilege to share this early morning conversation with Lubold, Ewing and all the friends, colleagues and ‘defense insiders’ I’ve met along the way,” DiMascio said. “From now on, I’ll look forward to reading Morning D like the rest of you.”

THE DOMINION OF THE LAND ADMIRALS – It’s a land-locked country, and yet part of Afghanistan is a Navy fiefdom: Rear Adm. Hal Pittman has been appointed deputy commander, communications for ISAF, replacing Rear Adm. Greg Smith, who is set to retire in October. Smith, who added a very rare public affairs second star, will have spent 22 months in Afghanistan. Rear Adm. Vic Beck will continue as director of public affairs for ISAF with Pittman’s arrival.

40 PUNISHED OVER ‘XO MOVIE NIGHT’ – Fleet Forces boss Adm. John Harvey has reprimanded eight senior officers and 32 other officers and sailors over “XO Movie Night,” reports Bill McMichael of Navy Times. Nobody will be fired besides former Enterprise skipper Capt. O.P. Honors, but if Mabus approves Harvey’s recommendation, the people involved will get strongly worded letters for their permanent records. http://bit.ly/gE4xRA  

AF IDs SHOOTING VICTIMS – Killed in this week’s Frankfurt attack were Senior Airman Nicholas Alden of Williamston, S.C., and Airman 1st Class Zachary Cuddeback of Stanardsville, Va.

THE POPPY PROBLEM – Mills said one of his most important achievements in the southwest was denying the Taliban the funding it used to get from the opium trade. Money doesn’t just let fighters buy weapons and supplies, he said, it underwrites the famous $10-A-Day Taliban types, who fight or help the insurgency as much to get paid as for ideological reasons. Not only have ISAF and the Afghans captured or eradicated much of Helmand’s former poppy fields, this year’s weather has not been good for what crops remain, Mills said.

THE BOMBS ARE COMING IN EARLY THIS YEAR – All this progress reinforces a few expectations: First, that the bad, smaller poppy crop will prompt the Taliban to begin fighting earlier this year than it has in the past, Mills said, given less product to refine and sell. Second, as we’ve heard before, commanders expect the Taliban will try a different strategy this year because it doesn’t have enough men for a stand-up fight with ISAF or local Afghan security forces. That could mean more suicide bombings against civilian targets and “spectacular attacks,” as Mills called them, such as Afghanistan’s Wild West-style bank robberies.

HEAVY METAL THUNDER – Remember those Abrams tanks that arrived in Mills’ AOR last year? He loves them. They’ve fired their main guns many times, he said, and they have rolled over four major roadside bombs that might have hurt or killed Marines in an ordinary vehicle. The crews of the tanks barely knew anything had happened, he said, and their crews and other Marines were able to repair their treads in situ, and then continue their missions.

MCCAIN AND LIEBERMAN WANT TO INTERVENE IN LIBYA SO BAD! They used Dempsey’s confirmation hearing Thursday to get in some digs as Washington and Europe drew back from immediate military action. McCain tried to build his case by saying the coalition hadn’t destroyed every single surface-to-air missile in Iraq back in the day for Operation Southern Watch. Dempsey said that, actually, yes, when Iraqi air defenses were moved too close to the patrol areas, U.S. warplanes would attack them. McCain said: “That wasn’t hard to do.” Dempsey: “Not being part of it, senator, I can’t speak to the difficulty of it.”

McCain then asked if Dempsey had seen the news reports about Qadhafi’s air attacks on anti-government rebels. Dempsey said he had. “You might tell Admiral Mullen you’ve seen that,” McCain said. McCain then went on to say that he thought American commanders could just order Libyans not to fly, and not to shoot at any international patrolling warplanes, or else. “Wouldn’t that have a deterrent effect on them, psychologically?” he asked. Dempsey said: “Deterrence is always one of the options we should make available to the National Command Authority.”

A NO-FLY ZONE ISN’T “LOOSE TALK,” MCCAIN SAID, taking a shot at Gates. Dempsey continued to dance between the raindrops: “We have the finest Air Force in the world, senator.” Lieberman suggested the U.S. could provide anti-government forces with air defense systems and train them how to use them, as with the thousands of shoulder-launched Stingers given to the mujahedin back in the bad old days. (Morning D’s example, not Lieberman’s.) If so ordered, Lieberman asked, could the Army train the Libyan rebels in air defense? Dempsey again responded very carefully: “Internal to Training and Doctrine command, we have coursework and expertise in air defense.”

W.VA. SENATORS IRKED AT BUCKLES REBUKE – Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin want the body of their former constituent, World War I vet Frank Buckles, to lie in state in the Capitol, but Speaker Boehner says no for now. Buckles, the last American who served in the Great War, is set to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but organizers want to use the opportunity for a larger observance of the World War I generation.

RUMSFELD RAN OUT OF BOOKS in his Pentagon appearance on Thursday, Morning D has learned – he signed and sold about 500 copies and then shook hands with about 30 people waiting in line once the supply was exhausted.

** A message from Boeing: Boeing is honored to be selected by the United States Air Force to design, develop and manufacture the KC-46A aerial refueling aircraft. The KC-46A will deliver advanced capabilities in a more efficient, more affordable aircraft, providing maximum value to the warfighter and the nation. **