On the ground in Sicily

Naval Air Station Sigonella sits in the shadow of an active volcano - Mount Etna. Every once in awhile it belches ash and smoke and makes the people of this small Italian island hope that Pompeii was a one-time thing.

Today, pairs of fighter jets take off and land with frequency in the shadow of the volcano as U.S. F-16 warplanes speed south across the Mediterranean to continue to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya.

But something else is rumbling: calls for the president to lead this mission to a swift conclusion.

Pressure is mounting on Obama from Republicans and Democrats equally as the hastily assembled agreement of nations begins to break apart. Yesterday Germany pulled out completely. Turkey has voiced its unhappiness with the operation, and Russia's president is getting downright nasty.  While these countries aren't a part of the actual coalition of forces engaging in Operation Odyssey Dawn, they present a picture of the diffuculties faced by those who are participating.

The truth is, the Obama administration went into the operation here with less of a coalition that George W. Bush had for the invasion of Iraq.

Here in the Mediterranean, more bad news: While coalition airstrikes have reduced Libya's ability to launch attacks from the air, the no-fly zone is not stopping Ghadafi's forces on the ground. His troops are still beseiging the town of Misrata, in what some observers are calling a "massacre."

And while the cost of this war to American taxpayers has already reached the billions, nobody seems really sure about how this will end if Ghadaffi stays in power.

And while we're being assured there will not be American boots on the ground in Libya, the feeling I'm getting is that something is going to blow.