Muammar Gaddafi's own envoys to the United Nations have broken with their boss and his regime. Diplomats from the Libyan mission have called Gaddafi a genocidal war criminal and called for him to quit.
“We are sure that what is going on now in Libya is crimes against humanity and crimes of war,” the deputy permanent representative, Ibrahim O. Dabbashi, told reporters in the ground-floor lobby of the Libyan mission on Manhattan’s East Side, adorned by a large portrait of Colonel Qaddafi in tribal dress atop a white horse.
About a dozen of Mr. Dabbashi’s colleagues stood behind him as he spoke, looking tense and nervous.
BBC News reports that the anti-Gadaffi protesters now seem to have taken control of the east of their country. The report also details the powerful forces Gadaffi has at his disposal and notes that Gadaffi has never hesitated to unleash them on his own people. The worst of these, known as the Deterrent Battalion, is under the command of one of Gadaffi's sons.
This is worse that Egypt or Yemen or Bahrain, because while some people in Gadaffi's military might be honest professionals (as was largely the case in Egypt), a whole posse of highly placed military men in Libya would have had to be involved in terrorism and war-mongering.
ReplyDeleteHow many in the military have everything to lose if the government collapses? They'll fight to keep Gadaffi in power, at least until there is a process where, upon a change in government, those involved in the crimes of Gadaffi's are absolved.
I've been tossing this situation around for the past couple of days and I think the best practical solution is for the Egyptian military to intervene. They have the proper equipment and training and Libya is just a border crossing away. Who else can get there in time?
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