The bombing by NATO warplanes on the residence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is not an assassination attempt, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.
"It is certainly not the policy of the coalition of this administration to decapitate or to effect regime change in Libya by force," he told reporters.
He insisted that the goal of the military mission remains "clear", which is to "protect the civilian population, enforce the no-fly zone and enforce the arms embargo".
Carney avoided getting further into Monday's bombing by referring reporters to NATO about the "specific decisions in terms of bombing missions".
NATO warplanes bombed the residence of Gaddafi in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, early Monday morning in an attack described by the Libyan government as an attempt on the Libyan leader's life.
A Libyan press official at the scene said that 45 people were wounded in the bombing, among which 15 were in serious condition and some others remained unaccounted for.
Gaddafi's office in the compound, where he often held ministerial and other meetings, was destroyed along with another multi-story structure.