Lbya is not a Civil War

Some politicians and analysts are calling the people's revolution in Libya a civil war. If Libya is a civil war so was the Pol Pot slaughter in Cambodia. A civil war requires allied factions at war with other allied of factions. Most of the geography and population fell under the control of anti-Gaddafi forces in just days. Gaddafi's military and security forces have tried to take back key cities and the oil port of Ras Lanuf to no avail. They are often fighting citizens with limited arms and no military experience. Yet the regime supporters cannot mount a successful offensive. Commanders and troops desert the dictator's ranks and pilots refuse to complete missions midair involving attacks on citizens. It is Gaddafi, his son's, the few remaining cronies, and foreign mercenaries against the people of Libya. That is not a civil war.

Rather, we are witnessing the death throws of a tyrant who would mimic Pol Pot if he had the means. This is the man formally rehabilitated by the Bush and Blair regimes. "Some now question" that rehabilitation. To me, the three are birds of a feather. It made perfect sense.