Gaddafi Does A Cheney

From an undisclosed location, Gaddafy made a radio broadcast to the nation. He claimed that his removal from his compound was a "tactical move to retreat". He said,"We are resisting with all our strength..we will either win or become martyrs, God willing." He threatened to turn the country into "a burning volcano under the feet of the invaders."

The Pentagon made sure people knew that they were actively monitoring the Libyan supplies of chemical weapons in case Gaddafy tried to do something drastic.

For reasons best known to selected media, the former government spokesperson Ibrahim Moussa is still allowed to comment. If you have caught this guy, he's well worth seeing on some of the Libyan coverage. This is Baghdad Bob all over again. He claims Qaddafi controls 80% of Tripoli and that 6,000 volunteers have entered Tripoli and are spreading through the nieghborhoods. Virtually all the international reporters on the ground say that the Freedom Fighters have almost complete control and now have to encounter small pockets of resistance here and there.

But what is interesting about Moussa is that reporters going back to towns that resisted the FF for so long have found that the Gaddafi propaganda was instrumental in the villagers resisting. The information war inside the country has been aimed at the various tribes and to that extent it has been successful. Now that the FF have seized the propaganda organs of the previous regime there is reported a different mood in the areas who once mounted resistance.

Perhaps because the FF were under-armed or focusing on another strategy, they apparently left a corridor open that inadvertantly allowed Gaddafi loyalists to escape Tripoli for Sirte, the former leader's hometown. Tonight there have been reports of Scuds being fired from Sirte to the FF-controlled city of Misrata.

Hugo Chavez said today that he would only recognize Gaddafi. The African Union remains befuddled. Nigeria and Kenya have come out for the TNC but South Africa is reluctant and is complaining that NATO exceeded its Security Council mandate. The heads of the AU are to meet on Friday to discuss the issue. Remember Gaddafi has been the primary bankroller of the AU since it was the Organization of African Unity so he commands a loopy respect. Besides, he was in power 41 years, a good African tradition.