LIBYAN STRONGMAN SQUEEZED FURTHER – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  From WaPo:

BENGHAZI, LIBYA - Col. Moammar Gaddafi faced fresh setbacks domestically and internationally early Sunday with opposition forces in eastern Libya preparing to dispatch a rebel force to his stronghold in Tripoli and the United Nation's imposing military and financial sanctions while raising the specter that the isolated leader could face charges for crimes against humanity.

Even as the opposition consolidated its grip on the country's second city, Benghazi, a top anti-Gaddafi leader, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Gatrani, said a small force comprising army defectors and rebels has already reached the outskirts of the capital. An attempt to oust Gaddafi in Tripoli on Friday was crushed by pro-regime paramilitaries and soldiers firing indiscriminately at protesters on the streets.

It happened as the wave of civil revolts of recent weeks continued to convulse the Middle East, with even Tunisia and Egypt, two nations where protesters succeeded in ousting longtime authoritarian rulers, seeing heated protests on Saturday that led to violent military crackdowns. In Oman on Sunday, two people were killed in protests, Reuters reported, as police fired tear gas and cordoned off protesters demonstrating for a second day in the city of Sohar.

There's an old saying, from Ralph Waldo Emerson:  "If you strike at a king, you must kill him."  If a rebel could get close enough to Gaddafi, or if a member of his security force turns against him, a single bullet would probably do the job and produce the end of the regime. 

And yes, there are disturbances in other countries as well, but the immediate focus is Libya:

The prospect of a rebel army marching on the capital to confront loyalist members of the same army raised the specter of outright civil war in a country already violently polarized between supporters and opponents of the regime. In another sign of the deepening division, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the former justice minister who recently defected, announced the formation of an "interim government'' to lead the eastern regions under rebel control.

COMMENT:   There are no guarantees at this moment.  Gaddafi's loyalists have enough weapons and ammunition to do unspeakable harm to the Libyan population.  And there are chemical weapons stockpiled.  Especially given the so-so response of the international community, there is no predictable outcome.

February 27, 2011