A Great Day For Libya,A Bad Day For Comedy

The King of Kings is on the run and no one knows where he will pitch his tent next. The Algerian embassy in Tripoli denied last night Gaddafi was there. David Ignatius reports this morning that the Gaddafi family has been sending money to Tunisia and Algeria for the last week. South Africa denies they are helping him prepare for exile. When asked about the South African Airways planes on the tarmac, they told the reporters to ask NATO because they control the airport. Besides the two African countries--Angola and Zimbabwe--some suggest Gaddafi might join Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

One mysterious report had a yacht and another vessel departing the port of Tripoli last night for places unknown.

By morning, the revolutionary army had claimed control of 90% of Tripoli. The fierce fighting had been around the Gaddafi compound last night and neighbors were told to stay away as NATO fighters bombed it. The New York Times' section The Lede revved up last night with tweets from Libyans in the neighborhood. The new twitters were breaking a long silence because the Libyan National Telephone company sent congratulations to all subscribers for overthrowing Gaddafi and then the lines were open.

President Obama released a statement this morning saying that Libya was at a tipping point and urged Gaddafi to leave before there was more bloodshed. He also noted that the United States recognized the TNC as the governing authority of the country and urged it to preserve human rights. Strangely, President Obama' s statement was reprinted in full in Billy Kristol's Weekly Standard, a conservative mouthpiece almost constantly critical of the President.

Early morning pundits and analysts appearing on television seemed way behind the news or at least too cautious about where we are. Former Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania crowed that the situation vindicated Obama's low-key approach to the Libyan situation. Republicans are spinning away with two points--the end could have come sooner if Obama had used airpower immediately, which mirrors the French statement, and that the success of this policy initiative could only come after we know the future shape of the government of Libya. However,toppling a Mideast dictator with no casualties to Americans is no small feat as we know from our prior experiences.

Juan Cole, who has monitored the whole Libyan situation from the beginning,posts on his blog www.juancole.com an essay this morning about the myths about the Libyan revolution. He is trying to counter the Left's complaints about our involvement and blasts other analysts who said it had to be done with American boots on the ground, people like Max Boot. Juan also has a good point about the analysis that Libya could break up because it is an "artificial country". He points out that almost all such criticism is by people who always view countries of the South as "artificial" because of the legacy of colonialism. He points out that the TNC has managed so far to contain the various factions within it.

There appears to be a silver lining in the delay of the TNC's victory. The TNC had to fire their leadership early on because of incompetence and their failure to develop a transition plan. During the months of delay, the TNC sent out feelers to Libyan army officials and government bureaucrats securing their commitment to participate in the transition process. This is a far cry from the Iraqi situation, which led to the de-Baathification and the elimination of the military, which plunged that country into continuous war. Yesterday we saw the fruits of that strategy when the Libyan military at key points surrendered. This was a real surprise to NATO officials who expected a fierce defense of the capital. But TNC officials frequently commented on the "honorable commanders" whom they had been in contact with for months.

So far the TNC fears the continued presence of snipers and "sleeper cells" in Tripoli and sporadic firefights in different neighborhoods. But there does not look to be any likelihood of a reversal of the battle. The regular army seems to be off the battlefield and only a few mercenaries and Gaddafi supporters appear to be creating the violence.

Now the TNC has captured Saad Gaddafi,making it three sons in total. The ICC has announced they have not prepared an arrest warrant for Saif Gaddafi and Mohammed. While Al-Jazeera interviewed Mohammed via telephone at his mother's house, gunfire erupted outside but he was unharmed. He said that the revolution occurred because the regime had made many mistakes. Got to Juan Cole's blog to see what they were.