There has been much talk in the last day or two about the resurgence of Gaddafi in Libya and the retreat of the rebels but precious little reason why this is the case.
Why have the coalition stopped bombing the advancing Gaddafi formations?
An article posted by the BBC explains and provides illumination not only to this but to a greater truth that will only cause problems for rebels and their coalition partners.
Until now, rebels and government troops have looked quite different. Gaddafi's forces have largely used traditional "symmetrical" armored vehicles to fight the rebels, however, since the coalition support of rebels from the air, the Gaddafi's armored forces have taken quite a pounding. The government now, largely keeps its armored contingents inside urban areas, increasingly in camouflage for protection, and uses these more like static artillery.
Why, then have the loyalist forces been able to advance then? They have forced the fight to be asymmetrical; rather than being static they are adopting rebel transport... the ubiquitous "Technical"... a flatbed pickup with a light or medium caliber MG, as well as mortars.
Now though, it has shown a remarkable degree of flexibility, and has chosen to adopt tactics used by the rebels only a few days ago, when they were sweeping along the coastal road, apparently unstoppably, in the direction of Sirte.
The sudden turnaround of fortune is the result of several factors.
The first is that Colonel Gaddafi's army has decided to follow methods which the rebels have used so successfully.
Its men are racing forward in the ordinary flat-bed trucks known elsewhere in Africa as 'technicals', with heavy machine-guns or anti-aircraft guns mounted on the back.
Others are equipped with mortars. Though these are quite light, they often cause great panic among the rebels, and are quick and easy to move forward.
Their new weaponry is less effective in a brute force way than their prior high caliber weaponry of their armored vehicles, however, combined with the better coordination and discipline, the government troops have found the key to beating the opposition in its own game, even under an umbrella of air coverage that was bombing them a day or two earlier.
The rebels have no perceptible command structure.
Individual gunners and their crews decide to go forward, if and when they choose, and vanish from the front line once they have had enough fighting.
Their morale has often been very high indeed, but when they are being beaten, it is easy for a retreat to turn into a rout.
The same is not true of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's army.
Their skills are not particularly impressive, and their morale until recently was noticeably lower than that of the rebels.
But when they are forced to withdraw, as they were at the start of the week, their training means that they can halt and regroup much more effectively than the rebels can.
And they have officers to urge them back into the fighting. The rebels have few, if any, officers.
The lack of coordination within the rebel troops is the very thing providing the opportunity for Gaddafi's forces to advance without NATO planes being able to distinguish them from ally or enemy. Thus the NATO airstrikes have become, for now, largely moot.