Gaddafi's Souvenir Stand

This is always the most tacky part of revolutions--when people rummage through the dictator's clothing. The Freedom Fighters--their preferred name--took the Gaddafi compound today at Bab Al-Aziziya (remember the name for future trivia games). Loyalists to the King of Kings put up a bitter fight but their boss had already left them behind. The FF found the usual schlock--dictator chic--bronze statues of his greatness, a gold plated dragunov pistol, a sculpture in the shape of a fist crushing an American plane and his wardrobe. Throw in his golf cart and you have a new day of E-bay sales. One FF wore Gaddafi's anniversary hat, which he is going to give to his father.

While hundreds died for him, the Fearless Leader is rumored to be out and about staying in houses and mosques for about three hours at a time. His regime is kaput. Taking the compound means the loss of his military intelligence headquarters, the revolutionary guard's command and a huge arsenal of weapons--heavy and light. Strategically it means the gig is up. Fighting will continue in pockets throughout the country but don't expect any counter-offensive. The Libyan UN ambassador expects that all of Libya will be under the control of the TNC within 72 hours. At this hour, the FF are negotiating with tribal heads to take Sirte where the loyalists went in the last 24 hours.

The mystery of Saif Gaddafi has apparently been solved. A band of loyalists posing as the opposition "captured" him and relayed the message to the TNC so they could be caught flat-footed when he re-appeared. It apparently worked but now very few people care about the whereabouts of the family or their relevance.

Al Jezeera continued their superb reporting but even they found it soon becoming a slow news day. Their reporter James Bays reported on a phenomenon that we have all seen in the Middle East--the celebration of military victories, weddings and the birth of children by shooting AK-47s into the air. Clips of his report should be purchased by USIA and distributed throughout the Middle East. Bays reported what all of us have wondered--the bullets that go up, really do come down and sometimes fatally. His report showed how many fatalities there have been by these enthusiastic bursts of celebratory shootings. He covered serial deaths at weddings in Jordan and another atrocity in the Phillippines. Of course, none one on the scene was listening to him as they shot off more rounds.

The United States today released $1.5 billion from Gaddafi's loot for use of the TNC and Predsident Obama spoke to Nicholas Sarkozy about the contact meeting scheduled for Paris. Another one is scheduled for Turkey this Friday. Nigeria, Norway and others have recognized the TNC as the legitimate government today. The State Department announced that the United States was requesting that Gaddafy make an "affirmative" statement that he realized his days as leader were done. Don't hold your breath.