All but over for Ghaddafi, thanks partly to Democrats
by David Atkins ("thereisnospoon")
The rebels have stormed Ghaddafi's compound:
Rebel fighters overwhelmed Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s sprawling compound on Tuesday, crashing through its outer gates, running pell-mell through the grounds and ransacking caches of weapons abandoned by his shrinking retinue of defenders. Colonel Qaddafi and his family were nowhere to be found.
While the crackle of gunfire and rumble of explosions could still be heard across a confused and wary Libyan capital, with the possibility of more fighting in days to come, the rebel invasion and pillaging of the Bab al-Aziziya compound seemed to represent an important symbolic moment for the rebel movement seeking to oust Colonel Qaddafi and his sons from power.
No one seems to know where Ghaddafi is right now, and there will probably be sporadic fighting here and there, but Ghaddafi is essentially done as a head of state and military leader at this point. Good riddance.
Meanwhile, it's worth remembering how Ghaddafi thanked Republicans for their help in defending his regime in June:
Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has written to members of Congress thanking them for criticizing President Obama last week over his involvement in the NATO-led military campaign in Libya.
“I want to express my sincere gratitude for your thoughtful discussion of the issues,” Colonel Qaddafi wrote in the letter, a copy of which was supplied to The New York Times by a person seeking to defend the administration’s policy. “We are confident that history will see the wisdom of your country in debating these issues.”
Colonel Qaddafi did not refer specifically to a resolution passed by the House that rebuked the administration for maintaining an American role in the campaign without the consent of Congress. But he expressed hope that the lawmakers would continue to press the administration.
Also, it's a good time for remembering John McCain's interesting tweet:
Late evening with Col. Qadhafi at his "ranch" in Libya - interesting meeting with an interesting man.
Try to imagine what would have happened in 2003 had Saddam Hussein thanked Democrats for their opposition to Bush, and had John Kerry called Saddam Hussein an "interesting man" after a meeting with him. We would have seen the rebirth of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Accusations of treason would have been spoken not only on talk radio, but openly in the halls of Congress. Blood would likely have been spilled. But reverse the roles and...crickets.
And let's also remember that unlike Saddam Hussein who was neatly contained in his no-fly zones, Colonel Ghaddafi actually did pose an ongoing threat to his people, and was directly guilty of international terrorism.
If national Democrats have an ounce of intelligence, they will hang this issue over the heads of Republicans at least 1/10th as vociferously as Republicans would have done to Democrats had the roles been reversed.
Republicans are absolutely, 100% terrible on national security. Terrorist attacks happen on Republican watch. Wars are lost on Republican watch. The wrong countries get invaded for no reason on Republican watch. International terrorists run free on Republican watch.
That Republicans still somehow retain the mantle of national security is a testament to a massive lack of political courage on the part of Democrats to tell the truth about who is effective even in military policy, and who is not.