We can breath again

According to the New York Times this morning, anti-Qaddafi forces are on the march again in Libya, apparently retaking the town of Ajdabiya, which controls access to the country's eastern shore. There's a useful map here. Libya has two strips of Mediterranean shore, separated by a gigantic bight, the Gulf of Sidra. The interior is notable largely for the Sahara Desert, much fought over during World War II in a contest to control the shoreline.

This geographical curiosity is what makes our no-fly zone feasible, and also explains the importance of Ajdabiya. If the rebels can clear the Qaddafi forces out of the eastern part of the country, and if Europe and the United States grant them diplomatic recognition, then they can probably hold on for the long haul. By the same token, Qaddafi may well hold on to the western part of the country. The momentum for actually unseating him may have leached away already. Mr Obama, in his radio address yesterday, allowed that “We are succeeding in our mission.” But he coyly refrains from defining what that mission is. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford