As NATO warplanes again bombed their ostensible rebel allies in Libya, Gen. Carter Ham, head of US Africa Command, broached sending troops into Libya with a possible international ground force to back up the rebel army.
Reports are emerging of US and British military advisors arriving in Benghazi, as a Qaddafi spokesman said the regime is open to reform—but that “the leader has to lead this forward.”
Moammar Qaddafi’s regime rejected a rebel ceasefire offer, as reports emerged that NATO mistakenly bombed a rebel convoy near Brega, killing 13 including four civilian medical personnel.
Libya’s rebels, in retreat for a third consecutive day, appealed to Qaddafi for a ceasefire—as they announced the signing of a deal with Qatar to market oil from fields under their control in exchange for weapons.
Defected Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa may bear responsibility in the Lockerbie bombing—and in countless “disappearances” and rights abuses. Will he now be embraced as the technocratic face of a new regime?
The White House and Paris both publicly broached arming the Libyan rebels as Moammar Qaddafi’s forces pushed the insurgent army back in a sweep to the east—despite ongoing Allied air-strikes.
As Libyan rebels pushed westwards towards Tripoli, an official of the rebel government in Benghazi said that Qatar has agreed to market crude oil produced from the North African country’s eastern fields.
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) announced legislation requiring an immediate halt to military action in Libya until Congress authorizes its resumption, asserting that Obama has acted unconstitutionally.
Contrary to some voices on the anti-imperialist left, the Western military intervention increases rather than diminishes our responsibilities of solidarity to the Libyan and Arab opposition movements.
NATO agreed to take control of enforcing the no-fly zone in Libya, as Qaddafi charged a civilian death toll of over 100 from the bombardment and rebels charged growing civilian casualties in Qaddafi’s siege of Misrata.
As Libyan rebels advanced on Ajdabiya and Qaddafi forces advanced on Misrata, the last rebel-held city in the west, the transitional council in Benghazi appointed a prime minister and Allied air-strikes continued.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in Cairo that the UN Security Council resolution authorizing a no-fly zone in Libya is “not time-limited,” while rebel leaders in Paris pledged a “democratic, secular” post-Qaddafi regime.
