Qadaffy will go as NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
marks 100 days of air strikes against his Libyan regime. The senior Foreign Office official, who does not want to be identified, claimed Friday the momentum had "shifted irrevocably" against the dictator and he was down to a "handful" of followers. "The sands of time are running down for Qadaffy," he told news hounds in London. NATO has now flown 12,000 sorties, including 5,000 attack missions, and hit more than 2,400 targets since launching strikes against Libya 100 days ago on Sunday under a United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
mandate to protect civilians. The British military alone has damaged or destroyed more than 500 targets, including 240 tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and rocket launchers, and more than 150 buildings, including bunkers and ammunition stores. The Ministry of Defence revealed yesterday that the UK's part in the NATO operation is costing taxpayers 43 million pounds per month.
The senior British diplomat said it was "clear" Qadaffy was isolated within Libya and pointed to the "steady stream" of defectors, including ambassadors, ministers and military officers, among them five generals who decamped the country last month. "The momentum has shifted irrevocably against Qadaffy and those around him, " he said. "Qadaffy's actions have stripped him of legitimacy. There can be no future for Libya with him in power."
He added: "The anger against him is simmering. The question is not if he will go, but when."
| Certainly there are those who say so. Let's hope they're right, lest the parties of the NATO part run out of missiles and spare parts before Qadaffy actually gets around to leaving the stage he's been at the center of since his hair was that colour without help. |
"The NTC and we are planning carefully and comprehensively for the days, weeks and months after Qadaffy has gone," the British diplomat said.
The NATO mission suffered a setback last weekend when a missile strike in a residential area of the capital Tripoli resulted in civilian deaths, something commanders blamed on a "weapons system failure". Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control...
Senior British military front man Major General Nick Pope said RAF pilots have twice in the past 10 days diverted laser-guided bombs away from their targets at the last second after spotting people who might be civilians in the area.