Qaddafi forces launch strikes around Libya

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with L...Image via Wikipedia
NY Times:

Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces struck back on three fronts on Monday, using fighter jets, special forces units and regular army troops in an escalation of hostilities that brought Libya closer to civil war.

The attacks by the colonel’s troops on an oil refinery in central Libya and on cities on either side of the country unsettled rebel leaders — who earlier had claimed they were close to liberating the country — and showed that despite defections by the military, the government still possessed powerful assets, including fighter pilots willing to bomb Libyan cities.

An international campaign to force Colonel Qaddafi from power gathered pace on Monday as the Obama administration announced it had seized $30 billion in Libyan assets and the European Union adopted an arms embargo and other sanctions. As the Pentagon began repositioning Navy warships to support a possible military intervention, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly told the Libyan leader to surrender power “now, without further violence or delay.”

...
Yjr Qadaffi strikes appear to have little strategic significance beyond showing he could do it. They do not change the correlations forces aligned against him nor do they reduce the ability of the opposition forces closing in on him. They are a pudding without any theme that is splattered against the country to see if anyone is scared off.

They do reinforce the need for a no fly zone which the Brits are pushing for.  It is something that should have been urged earlier by the US, but this administration has been slow to react and has been slow to put forces in place that could effect the outcome.  It will still takes days for the ships moving into the Med can challenge this despot.

The threat of the use of force might be enough to cow Qaddafi, but even that is not a sure thing because the countries rattling sabers at this time are doing so contingent on a UN resolution that might be blocked by the Russians and Chinese who appear to be on the side of repression and mass murder of civilians.

All of this overlooks the fact that Qaddafi generally backs down in the face of force.  That is what happened after we defeated Saddam and he decided to give up his nuke program.  Even with the movement of forces this administration appears to be presenting a dithering response with bold statements and little sticks to back them up.
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