Libyan rebels vehicles head for Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte in eastern Libya on Monday, March 28, 2011. The Arabic writing on the truck reads “Free Libya.” (AP Photo)

Washington (CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration is not voicing concern about terrorist infiltration of the rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi, even though a 2007 West Point study found that Libya accounted for one of the largest per-capita contributions to the foreign insurgency in Iraq.

The White House was asked about the rebels -- and the study -- hours before President Obama went on prime-time television Monday in an attempt to explain the U.S. mission in Libya to the American people.

The United States joined France and Britain in air strikes against Libya to enforce a no-fly zone over the country, a move authorized by the United Nations Security Council. NATO is now set to take responsibility both for enforcing the no-fly zone and protecting civilians.

But some critics have raised doubts about the wisdom of helping an opposition whose makeup, ideology and goals are not well understood.

At a White House press briefing Monday, Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough addressed a question about the administration’s comfort level regarding allied air strikes helping the Libyan rebels.

He voiced reluctance to characterize the Libyan opposition, but said it was “quite a broad movement of people.”

“You had the people – shopkeepers and others – and even in Tripoli, those first several days who were protesting and saying that the mistreatment that they’d been under for so long was – needed to end. I think they’re part of the opposition,” McDonough said. “I think those people in Misurata right now who are pinned down by government forces are part of the opposition.”

McDonough said the opposition goes beyond the rebel forces heading westward from the opposition stronghold of Benghazi. “It’s not just those individuals, but I think it’s individuals that we saw in those first several days – shopkeepers, students and others.”

McDonough did not take a question specifically about the 2007 West Point report, although the issue was put to White House press secretary Jay Carney later in the briefing.

“There was a report out of West Point in 2007 about the people going through Syria to get into Iraq to fight U.S. troops, and that report had about a fifth of those going in to fight U.S. troops (as being) from Libya,” a reporter said.

“There was also a Libyan opposition group that was affiliated with al-Qaeda. And my question is, how concerned is the administration about the possible presence within this broad group of Libyan opposition figures that there are those who fought jihad against the United States in Iraq, or are affiliated with al-Qaeda or affiliated groups?”

Carney replied that the administration had “obviously spent a lot of time looking at the opposition in Libya and speaking with opposition leaders.”

“What we have seen in Libya is something that’s national and organic, where, as we’ve seen in other countries, the people of Libya have expressed their desire for greater participation, greater voice in their government, more representation,” he said. “But beyond that, I don’t have anything specific on elements of the opposition that would be of concern.”

Asked how confident Obama was that a post-Gaddafi government would be better for the U.S., Carney acknowledged that the situation involved “a lot of unpredictability.”

“But the President believes strongly that it serves the U.S. national interest and national security interests to be on the right side of history and to – as he did with regard to Egypt and as he has with regard to situations across the region – to support the democratic aspirations of the people, to support political dialogue between governments and their people, and that an outcome that results in greater pluralistic, democratic representative governments in the region will increase prosperity, stability and … also be good for the United States of America.”

Citing Italian press reports, the Daily Telegraph of London reported on March 26 that Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, described as “a key leader of the Libyan rebels,” said he had recruited men from eastern Libya to fight against coalition forces in Iraq.

The paper said al-Hasidi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a group identified in the West Point report as having an “increasingly co-operative relationship” with al-Qaeda.

The West Point information was based on documents captured in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, which reportedly showed that LIFG members made up the second largest group of foreign fighters in Iraq, after Saudis.

According to the State Department, al-Qaeda announced in November 2007 that the LIFG had officially joined the terrorist network.

The Los Angeles Times, citing unnamed U.S. counterterrorism officials, reported on March 24 that there was no evidence that terrorists were playing a hidden role in the Libyan rebellion.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday was taking part in a multilateral meeting in London with allied governments and opposition leaders from Libya.