Well, it's happened. The United States has launched cruise missiles against the forces of the Brother Leader. And not a moment too soon, as far as I am concerned. Despite the fact that the forces of Daffy Gaddaffi had declared a 'cease fire' they were continuing to attack the main opposition strongholds clearly hoping to get inside Benghazi and Misurata so that they could use the civilian population as shields.
Originally, I was under the impresion that this was mostly a result of HRC pushing and that Obama himself was pulled kicking and screaming into it. Turns out, according to Politico, I was wrong.
On Tuesday afternoon, as Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi moved in for the kill on pro-democracy rebels challenging his regime, an agitated President Barack Obama turned to his national security team in the White House and demanded: âI want to see all of the options.â
To the surprise of some in the room, Obama wanted alternatives that moved considerably beyond the mere imposition of the no-fly zone long advocated by hawks in the administration and European allies, to a broader range of military options that included attacks on pro-Qadhafi armor and artillery advocated by his U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice days before.
I'm glad that the French were the first to fly over the country - good symbolism and fitting as it's their fault that Gaddaffi is still alive. Had François Mitterrand not been such an ass, the Brother Leader would have almost certainly been killed when Reagan bombed his palace back in the 1980's and there would be a lot less victims to avenge.
Apparently, the US is currently in command of Operation Odyssey Dawn, but this seems to be temporary. I hope that they are able to hand off official command to someone else soon. Hugo Chavez, proving his assholishness, is already bleating about crusaders and saying the west wants Libya's oil. The fact that he's sticking so close to Gaddaffi's side tells me everything that needs to be known about the man.
No comment yet from the Brother Leader himself. I expect we'll soon see a long, rambling speech from him where he talks about how much his people love him and laughing his maniacal laugh.
I'll end this diary with a picture I did a few days ago. My heart is with those who are fighting deadly force for their freedom. I can do nothing to help other than offer moral support which is what motivated this picture.