Libyan Air Force Being Used Against Civilians

If one thought that Tunisia's Ben Ali or Egypt's Hosni Mubarak were ruthless against their people and obstinate in the face of popular will, Libya's Qaddafi offers a humbling lesson of the cruelty of man.

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Dictators they were, Ben Ali and Mubarak, were at least rational men with a relative sense of restraint who avoided massacres, albeit they both killed hundreds. Qaddafi is a genuinely deluded zealot, a self-styled revolutionary with his own philosophical [sic] text who envisions himself as the leader of all revolutionaries, Africa and, of course, "the people" (whatever that means).

The one thing Ben Ali got right was when he confided to an American diplomat that Qaddafi is "not normal". Qaddafi, if he has the power, will rather see his country purged of life than concede defeat and resign. His own son said that explicitly when he addressed Libyans Sunday night and promised a fight to the last man and last bullet.

The next morning he showed Libyans what he meant when more imported mercenaries were unleashed and fighter jest bombed civilian demonstrators. Two pilots of conscience defected to Malta.

The Libyan military has issued a statement promising a night bombing of the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya's second city. In 29 days of protests in Tunisia, less than 200 were killed by Tunisian police forces and regime thugs. On Monday alone in Libya over 200 were killed.

If the military is serious about a bombing raid against its own people, then the death toll is too horrific to contemplate.

Qaddafi is done for in the end: diplomats, military units and even the personal security guard have defected. But Qaddafi still has enough of the military to hang on for a few hours.

But in the end too many forces will be aligned against him. And finally this longest serving of Arab tyrants, and the most tyrannical and odd, will be done for!