About That 3am Call

The Brokeback Mountain Boys--Lindsey Graham and John McCain--praised the outcome of the Libyan Revolution, the efforts of all our allies but blasted President Obama for not committing sufficient airpower early enough. It was only two years ago that both men went to Libya and praised Gaddafi and now McCain has gone all jingo and said "Gaddafi has the blood of Americans on his hands."

On NPR this morning, callers voiced doubts over whether Libya was worth it. One caller said it was a "pyrrhic victory" because Islamic fundamentalists will capture the revolution. Another wondered whether Libya would now repay NATO for the costs. Still another wondered how much money would the Libyans ask us for to rebuild. Neo-isolationism is still alive and well.

For now the Libyan episode takes away the issue of national security from the Republicans. It seems Obama can remove dicators at less cost in lives and treasure. Mark Penn, the Democratic strategist, used an ad during the 2008 campaign questioning whether Obama had the character to answer the 3am phone call. With the killing of bin Laden, the evisceration of Al Qaeda and the careful navigation of the Arab Spring, I think it's safe to lay that one to rest. Right now it seems Republicans have to come up with their positions on national security.

Republicans are not looking very classy on issues of national security. Remember the House wouldn't entertain a mundane resolution congratulating the Navy Seal team 6 for killing bin Laden because it would have to include praise of the President. Now they make sure to downplay any American accomplishment. That's why I call them the "Hate America Firsters", echoing the pre-WWII isolationism of the GOP.

The loser so far in the Libyan Revolution seems to be Russia. The representative of the Russia-Libya committee said as much when he cried,"We've lost Libya." Russia has lost a new $5 billion arms deal and now they have been informed they have lost the Gazprom contracts.

The NTC today also said they rejected the building of NATO bases. They explained that they once revolted against Western military bases.

The Arab League expressed solidarity with the Libyan Revolution. One Libyan tweeted,"Your support comes too late, we did it without you guys."

The Foreign Minister of Turkey attended this morning's AU summit meeting and is flying to the temporary capital of Benghazi. I suspect he has a message for the TNC.

The South African government continues to deny it was planning on flying Gaddafi to exile. The Gaddafi Prime Minister al-Bahdadi ,along with the head of the national television,managed to escape to the Tunisian island of Djerba. The Pentagon is saying that Gaddafi remains in Libya. Rumors have him escaping the capital and moving further inland.

Gaddafi's son Khamis apparently has launched a counter-offensive amd heavy clashes in Sidi Khalifa in Central Tripoli and around the Gaddafi stronghold of Bab Al-Aziziyah have been reported.

The TNC reports that many Gaddafi officials have taken refuge in the city of Sirte and that the city is now under seige.

Niger is begining to conduct air surveillance along its northern border because they fear the possible infltration of armed groups from Libya. Over the past week they have seized 60 vehicles and a helicopter. Niger is also concerned about the number of mercenaries from Niger and Mali who serve Gaddafi.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil of the TNC gave a press conference where he mentioned the transition plans but also expressed concerns that his forces might act out beyond their orders--especially taking personal revenge.

Richard Haas opened the morning with a suggestion that the United States actually put boots on the ground--now! I'm afraid NATO can claim credit for its support of the revolutionaries but it would be unseemly to appear after six months and try and take the legitimacy away from the Libyans. Unlike their Iraqi counterparts,they fought for their freedom and deserve the street cred that comes with that.