Perhaps everyone was focused on President Obama's Monday night speech, but someone has taken their eye off the ball, and let Gaddafi's heavy infantry pound the Libyan rebels and the Libyan people. Perhaps the NATO forces are too busy eliminating ammo dumps in the Sahara to focus on the people living in cities threatened by Gaddafi tanks.
Misurata, Zintan and Brega are in danger of being recaptured by Gaddafi today. Apparently, NATO cannot respond to this threat. If these cities fall, the rebellion will be in deep trouble.
As of this morning, here are the facts on the ground:
Misurata is being destroyed by Kaddafi forces. Over the weekend, the British reported destroying 2 Gaddafi tanks. That leaves approximately 1,000 armored vehicles left in Misurata. Gaddafi is hiding his artillery within storefronts, which apparently the Pentagon has not figured out how to eliminate.
Zintan has been attacked repeatedly by Gaddafi tanks, and today they have surrounded the small city and are pounding it. The Coalition can probably see all this, and are wondering how to repeat their life saving intervention last week where they eliminated the threat posed by Gaddafi's tanks. Zintan is the only free city southwest of Tripoli.
Brega: this may be too late, but Gaddadi's heavy infantry is pushing back the rebels with impunity.
The UN called for protection of Libya's population, and until Gaddafi loses the capacity to threaten them, continued pressure on his army is necessary to fulfill the UN mandate.