Gaddafi: Obsessed By a Ruthless, Messianic Vision

In the movie reel of his imagination, he sees himself standing alone in the desert, silhouetted against the moon, swathed in traditional Bedouin robes, a farsighted prophet of Islam and the mighty creator of the Great Arab Nation, stretching from the warm Persian Gulf to the dark Atlantic Ocean–a nation that would eclipse the West in power and glory and purity.

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Arming Libya’s Rebels: A Debate in Doha

Guns, money, oil, and an ex-spy chief slinking in the shadows: that’s what it came down to Wednesday in Qatar’s capital Doha when the NATO-led alliance marshaling air strikes on Libya gathered to defend its actions and brainstorm on how to help a ragtag rebel army finally dethrone Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. The coalition dismissed recent criticism and claims of inner discord with an early statement that the “international community remained united and firm in its resolve.” The same statement boasted that the alliance’s “efforts to date had exerted significant pressure on Gaddafi, protected civilians ..

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Non-Starter: Why Libya’s Rebels Distrust the African Union

An African delegation on a mission to end the seven-week conflict in Libya received a hostile welcome in the rebel capital of Benghazi Monday. “No Gaddafi, no sons!” hundreds of protesters shouted as they swarmed the vehicles of the Presidents of Congo, Mali, Mauritania and Uganda

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Libya Rebels Want Arms, Money to Defeat Gaddafi Forces

On Wednesday, when asked why the Libyan rebels were retreating, one of their spokesmen, Colonel Ahmed Bany, said archly, “You are obviously well aware of the difference between a tank and a Kalashnikov.” It could be the difference between victory and defeat. The rebels have repeatedly emphasized their relative hopelessness in squaring off against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, using only an apparently large supply of light arms, including AK-47s, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

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