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The Boston Herald March 18, 2011

Libyan crisis mounts

By O'Ryan Johnson

The U.N. Security Council vote to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and authorize “all necessary measures” to protect civilians from attacks by Moammar Gadhafi’s forces may have come too late, experts said last night.

“The time to act was when (opposition forces) were marching into Tripoli, when they had momentum,” said Neil Livingstone of Global Options Inc., who briefly was jailed in Libya during a business trip in 1976.

“I don’t think it’s going to change anything right now,” he said of the belated U.N. action. “I’m afraid that this is a doomed cause.”

After a week of setbacks for opposition forces, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s heavily armed forces had closed in to within striking distance of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi yesterday, and Gadhafi was vowing to crush the rebellion.

Obama administration officials, who spoke after a closed-door briefing in Congress, said they expected the attempt to ground Gadhafi’s air force could begin by Sunday or Monday.

The effort likely would involve jet fighters, bombers and surveillance aircraft, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said targets could include ground forces.

The Security Council voted 10-0. Five nations abstained from the vote, including Russia and China. President Obama has been buffeted by criticism for not moving more aggressively to help the rebels trying to topple Gadhafi, long considered one of the world’s most ruthless dictators.

Meanwhile, British forces reportedly were on stand-by for air strikes and were set to be mobilized as soon as last night, a lawmaker with Defense Ministry contacts said.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France would support military action against Gadhafi within hours. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe urged adoption of the resolution, saying sanctions imposed by the Security Council on Feb. 26 aren’t enough and that, “Violence against the civilian population has been redoubled.”

“We cannot let these warmongers...do this,” Juppe said. “We have very little time left. It’s a matter of days. It’s perhaps a matter of hours. We should not arrive too late.”

John Pike of Global- Security.org said, militarily, the United States and its allies should have no problem stalling Gadhafi’s Soviet-era military. However, Pike cautioned that Gadhafi has warehouses full of cash, the loyalty of his military and his back to the wall, which gives him the ability and the incentive to hang on.

Livingstone suggested, “If they really wanted to bring this regime to its knees, they would impose an oil embargo.”

Gadhafi, meanwhile, dismissed the legitimacy of U.N.-sanctioned action, and threatened to respond.

“The U.N. Security Council has no mandate. We don’t acknowledge their resolutions,” he told Radiotelevisao Portuguesa. He pledged to respond harshly to U.N.-sponsored attacks. “If the world is crazy, we will be crazy too,” he said.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.