A Date Gone Wrong?

A spokesman for the rebels bluntly accused NATO of not doing enough to topple Qaddafi, while NATO pointed to the UNR that calls for the use of force against Qaddafi only to protect civilians but not to topple his government. It is like a valentine date gone wrong, extremely wrong. As of now, the rebels do not know exactly what the NATO's intention is, while NATO still struggling to define exactly what the rebels have been or are doing on the ground since advancing toward the capital weeks ago.

These two sides who attempted to squeeze the life out of Qaddafi's government, but are yet to do so, do not seem to work together as partners in the Libyan uprising. The NATO military is bound by the UNR and only act accordingly, while the rebels only advanced when they had the opportunity, but retreating every time Qaddafi forces mounted a counterattack. This is a recipe for a catastrophic end if the two sides don't agree on what to do with the Libyan government inside the highly fortified Tripoli or how to fight this war.

The open-ended mission to Libya is not effective as initially thought, and if it drags on, the US and NATO may have no choice but to either put soldiers on the grounds or arming the ant-Qaddafi forces. That option is still on the table according to the former US-Libyan operation commander, but that is something Obama would not risk. His priority now is to get the government going while tackling the economy's tough issues that will define his re-election bid in 2011. Libya is his nightmare.

The fear I get from watching the Libyan and Afghanistan's development is that the US, if not careful, may create terrorist havens in these two countries as it always had been in past wars US engaged in. It happened during when Russia withdrew from Afghanistan in the late 8os, and the end of the Kuwait-Iraqi war (dubbed the Gulf War I).

One way or another, the US and allies will have to get down on the ground and neutralize Qaddafi. But for the rebels, this is their country and their destiny. They cannot expect others to do their work for them, they must be willing to die for what they believe in. Unless these two parties changed their approaches to this war, this partnership may turnout to be the a bitter relationship that will define exactly how the new Libya will view the West in a post-Qaddafi Libya.

The both need to change tactics.