The real picture in Tripoli emerges

Gaddafi

As journalists continue to delve deeper into the psyche of Tripoli, it is becoming increasingly more apparent that Gaddafi does not enjoy the support he is attempting to portray through propaganda.

As the vice-like grip on power begins to loosen as a result of the air strikes against him military assets and compounds, ordinary Libyans are daring to speak their mind, albeit anonymously, to Western media.

The consensus is clear: “Gaddafi must go”. Ordinary Tripoli residents are reaching out through shopkeepers who often get a chance to have a quick word with journalists out of sight of their minders. They have told the West that the Green flag-waving youths are either brainwashed and in the inner circle of Gaddafi, or are simply paid thugs.

"While the UN approved action to safeguard the lives of civilians, through the imposition of a no-fly zone and other necessary measures, it is becoming clearer and clearer that the Libyan people are going to need help if they are to push west and overthrow the regime"

It is, however, important to note that Gaddafi, perhaps like David Koresh, is surrounded by a good number of fanatical maniacs who will stick by him till the end. The cracks are also beginning to appear within the core of the regime as senior members of Gaddafi’s entourage begin to make contact outside of Libya to try and go into self imposed exile. The right thing to do morally would be refuse such requests, but if we are truly looking to help Libyans in their cause, then these requests might be accepted as they will hasten the regime-collapse.

There is no way back now. While the UN approved action to safeguard the lives of civilians, through the imposition of a no-fly zone and “other necessary measures”, it is becoming clearer and clearer that the Libyan people are going to need help.

News began to filter out of Misurata yesterday where rebels and the few citizens that remain were given a reprieve as Coalition air strikes pounded artillery and tank positions outside the town. It is not yet clear as to whether the siege has been completely broken, but it has surely evened the odds somewhat in terms of militia fighting with sticks, stones and anything they can scavenge.

Although armed, the Libyan rebels can hardly be described as an army. It is merely a collection of Libyan people, fired up and determined to seek freedom from Gaddafi. Many are worried that the East may become an Islamist State and that the West, with or without Gaddafi might become a puppet nation constantly at risk of incursion by fanatics somewhere down the line. On the other hand, the Benghazi council has told the West’s reporters in Paris that the new Libya will be secular and democratic.

One hopes that the rebels  can take advantage of the corridors of opportunity being afforded to them by the strikes. But what can anyone really expect from a bunch of kids, dads and uncles with only assault rifles and no military training.

Perhaps if the coalition succeeds in destroying all, or the great majority, of Gaddafi’s heavy weapons, then the people of Libya might have a chance to revive the popular movement that initially wrested so many towns and cities from Gaddafi’s sphere of control.

The possibilities are endless, but the reality is that the Libyan people need help. We are sure that there must be boots on the ground in terms of special forces. No one else could plot co-ordinates so well and guide the aircraft and missiles to their targets unless they could get eyeballs on targets in the field.