Italian Eurofighter jets prepare to land on March 23, 2011 at Trapani-Birgi airbase in Sicily. (Alberto Pizzoli - AFP/Getty Images) As the coalition military operation in Libya continues, the United States seems to be inching closer to taking a smaller role in the effort. The Post's Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung reported that the U.S. is close to "turning over command of the military operation in Libya, with key NATO countries tentatively agreeing that the alliance would take the leading role."

There are currently nine countries involved in the international effort to stop violence against civilians in Libya. The U.S. currently has 42 F-16s and other planes in the region, and France was the first country to launch air strikes in Libya last weekend. Here's a breakdown of who else is involved, with countries ranked by their level of involvement:

	Deployment status	Aircraft	Ships	Operating
United States	Enforcing no-fly zone since Saturday	42 F-16s are based in Aviano, Italy. Other planes in the region not disclosed by the Pentagon	Three submarines, including attack submarines Newport News and Providence Five combat ships, including at least one guided-missile destroyer	Not released by the Pentagon. Other bases in addition to Italy may be Greece, Spain and Turkey.
Britain	Participated in coordinated strike Saturday	Tornado GR4 planes, VC10 and Tristar air-to-air refueling aircraft, E-3D Sentry and Sentinel surveillance aircraft Typhoon aircraft standing by	One Trafalgar-class submarine Two frigates (the Cumberland and Westminster) Destroyers may be deployed.	Southern Italy
France	Participated Saturday, expected to resume Tuesday	About 20 fighter aircraft, including Rafale warplanes and Mirage fighters At least one AWACS surveillance aircraft	Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, with an additional 20 aircraft An attack submarine Several frigates A refueling ship	Solenzara air base, Corsica
Canada	Joined a naval blockade off Libya but has not conducted strikes	Deployed six planes over the northern Libyan coast on Monday but did not carry out strikes.	Frigate Charlottetown in the Mediterranean One tanker aircraft at Decimomannu air base, Sardinia, Italy	Decimomannu air base, Sardinia, Italy
Italy	Ready to participate	Dozens of combat aircraft are positioned to take part in operations, including Tornado fighters, F-16s and Eurofighters.	11 combat ships	A NATO base near Naples and seven others -- the Amendola, Gioia del Colle, Sigonella, Aviano, Trapani, Decimomannu and Pantelleria bases -- are available.
Denmark	Ready to participate	Six fighter planes are deployed to Sicily (four waiting U.S. instructions to join operations; two kept in reserve).	None	Sigonella air base, Sicily
Spain	Ready to participate	One tanker plane A maritime patrol aircraft Four F-18 jets	One F-100 frigate One submarine	Rota in Cadiz and Moron de la Frontera in Seville are ready for use in Spain.
Qatar	Planning to participate	Six fighters and a cargo plane	None
Norway	Not participating until clear command-and-control strategy has been formed	Six fighter planes are in Crete to eventually join the coalition. They are currently grounded.	None	Crete

Whoever leads the effort once the U.S. takes a smaller role will have to face a resilient Moammar Gaddafi. As Liz Sly and Greg Jaffe reported for the Post, "Four days of allied strikes have battered­ Gaddafi’s air force and largely destroyed his long-range air defense systems, a top U.S. commander said Tuesday. But there was little evidence yet that the attacks had stopped regime forces from killing civilians or shifted the balance of power in favor of the rebels."

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