Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam d that a new offensive would be launched within days.
"It's time for liberation. It's time for action," told Reuters after the defeat of opposition forces in the town of Zawiya, 30 miles from Tripoli, and the rout of rebels in the town of Ras Lanuf. He added: "We are moving now."
There was an unusually humorous example in DC today on how the right hand of the Obama Administration is clueless about what the left hand is up to.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel today that the battlefield momentum had begun to go Khaddaffi's way and that "I think over the longer term that the regime will prevail."
Clapper said his assessment was based in part on secret intel, which indicated that special military units loyal to Khaddaffi and backed up tanks and artillery have been able to maintain and replenish their weapons.
Clapper said that even if Kadafi doesn't defeat that even if Khaddaffi is unable to completely subdue the rebels, Libya could end up split into two or three parts in "a Somali-like situation."
Clapper's comments sent the White House into deep damage control to organize an unusual on-the-record conference call with reporters by national security adviser Thomas Donilon, who told them Clapper's view didn't take into account the pressure the U.S. and other countries were bringing in the form of economic sanctions, travel bans and the freezing of assets.
"We've isolated Kadafi and denied him resources," Donilon said. "We're ensuring accountability, building international support and building capabilities to assist the Libyan people. It's a fluid situation and it's not going to be resolved overnight. But … we've acted quite swiftly and steadily to ramp up our efforts," Donilon said.
It's interesting that none of the reporters asked Donilon why all these measure don't seem to be stopping Khaddaffi in the least.
Even more farcically, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton proudly announced today that she would be meeting opposition leaders in the US and during an overseas tour next week to France, Tunisia and Egypt. "We are standing with the Libyan people as they brave bombs and bullets to demand that Khaddaffi must go – now," Clinton told a House panel in Washington.
I'm sure the Brother Leader is absolutely petrified with fear. Especially since the Obama Administration is not prepared to do anything concrete to oust him.
That's the problem with perpetually voting present, you see. You anger both sides,
On the one hand, our Secretary of State is offering diplomatic recognition to the rebels and making bellicose noises, which Khaddaffi is not going to forget. On the other hand, the Obama Administration is making the rebels and other 'Arab Democracy' proponents in the region furious by sitting there and doing nothing while Khaddaffi's strike forces make halal kibbeh out of the rebels and any civilians inconveniently in the way.
It's rather like what happened when the Obama Administration vetoed that ridiculous UN resolution calling Israel communities in Judea and Samaria 'illegal'. They angered the Arabs by vetoing it, and angered the Israelis by having UN Ambassador Susan Rice launch a ridiculous anti-Israel tirade to 'explain' the veto that robbed the gesture of any appreciation it might have gotten from the Israelis.
As an added giggle, the leader of the rebel provisional government is Mustapha Abdul Jalil, a former justice minister who is an Islamist. And the rebels also have a healthy quotient of Jew haters and salafists in their ranks.
The American position is even more conflicted when it comes to actions through NATO, like a no-fly zone.The US joined Germany in blocking the imposition of a no-fly zone supported by Britain and France. US SecDef Robert Gates said at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels that contingency planning for a no-fly zone would continue, adding " and that's the extent of it".
As I said, the left hand is clueless about what the right hand is doing within this administration. Embarrassing.
1 comment:
i remember reading an essay, long ago, by the baron at GoV, wherein he referred to the leader of libya as the man of many spellings. i am glad to see ff employs this as well. sometimes in the same sentence.
i fear that hussein is watching kadaffy, and learning. the rebels in libya are not threat to anyone.
the tea party is a threat to all mankind.
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