Libya updateCoalition escalates pressure on Gaddafi
The continuing ineffectiveness of the anti-Gaddafi rebels, and the flexibility and adaptability that the pro-Gaddafi forces have shown, have led the coalition to ratchet up the military pressure on Gaddafi: Britain, France, and Italy have decided to inject military advisers into rebel-held eastern Libya, and the United States began continuous patrols of armed drones over Libya; the latest, and probably most important, step was the decision to launch air strikes targeting command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) hubs and facilities; in one such attack over the weekend, one of Gaddafi’s sons — who was at the compound at the time — was killed, along with his three children; some have speculated that the coalition is now targeting Gaddafi and his family, but analysts say that legal questions aside, such targeting will have no effect on the military realities on the ground while making it politically and diplomatically more complicated to carry on the campaign
Aftermath of bombing that killed Gaddafi son // Source: vanguardngr.com
The killing of one of Col. Gaddafi’s sons over the weekend is one indication that the Western coalition has decided to ratchet up the military pressure on the regime. This escalation is the result of the realization that the anti-Gaddafi rebels are just not sufficiently strong, organized, or effective to topple the Gaddafi regime on their own – even after the coalition has destroyed Gaddafi’s air force and much of his heavy armor.
As Shashank Joshi notes in a useful analysis for the BBC, earlier steps in the escalation were the decision by three member of the coalition — Britain, France, and Italy – to inject military advisers into rebel-held eastern Libya, and the decision by the United States to begin continuous patrols of armed drones.
The last, and probably most important, was the decision to launch air strikes targeting command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) hubs and facilities.
The Bab al-Aziziya compound which was attacked this weekend includes C3I networks, and the decision to target it was meant, Joshi writes, to disrupt and disorient regime soldiers on the front line, cut off field commanders from Tripoli, and sow confusion in the ranks.
Gaddafi’s son, and his three children, were also in the compound, and were killed.
