Coalition strikes buoy opposition

ZWITINA, Libya – Coalition forces bombarded Libya for a third straight night Monday, targeting the air defenses and forces of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, stopping his advances and handing some momentum back to the rebels, who were on the verge of defeat just last week.

But the rebellion’s more organized military units were still not ready, and the opposition disarray underscored U.S. warnings that a long stalemate could emerge.

The air campaign by U.S. and European militaries has unquestionably rearranged the map in Libya and rescued rebels from the immediate threat they faced only days ago of being crushed under a powerful advance by Gadhafi’s forces. The first round of airstrikes smashed a column of regime tanks that had been moving on the rebel capital of Benghazi in the east.

Monday night, Libyan state TV said a new round of strikes had begun in the capital, Tripoli, marking the third night of bombardment. But while the airstrikes can stop Gadhafi’s troops from attacking rebel cities – in line with the U.N. mandate to protect civilians – the United States, at least, appeared deeply reluctant to go beyond that toward actively helping the rebel cause to oust the Libyan leader.

President Barack Obama said Monday that “it is U.S. policy that Gadhafi has to go.” But, he said, the international air campaign has a more limited goal, to protect civilians.

“Our military action is in support of an international mandate from the Security Council that specifically focuses on the humanitarian threat posed by Col. Gadhafi to his people. Not only was he carrying out murders of civilians but he threatened more,” the president said on a visit to Chile.

In Washington, the American general running the assault said there is no attempt to provide air cover for rebel operations. Gen. Carter Ham said Gadhafi might cling to power once the bombardment finishes, setting up a stalemate between his side and the rebels, with allied nations enforcing a no-fly zone to ensure he cannot attack civilians.

After Benghazi, a no-fly zone will be extended to cities such as embattled Misrata in western Libya, and the capital Tripoli, he said. “We have no mission and no intent to provide close air support to the opposition.”

In Tripoli, Musa Ibrahim, a Libyan government spokesman, accused the international forces of supporting a rebel offensive, which he called “illegal, immoral.” The airstrikes are violating the Security Council resolution by killing civilians, destroying civilian airports and harbors in Tripoli, the Gadhafi coastal stronghold of Sirte, and other cities, he said.

“The rebels are advancing southward,” Ibrahim said. “The West is clearly providing air cover for the advance of the rebels toward the Libyan armed forces.” Meanwhile, he said, “If we attack, then we will be called murderers and killers.”

At the United Nations on Monday, the Security Council turned down a request by Libya for an emergency session. Libya wanted “an emergency meeting in order to halt this aggression.”

Henri Guaino, a top adviser to the French president, said the allied effort would last “a while yet.”

Among the rebels, as well, there was a realization that fighting could be drawn out. Mohammed Abdul-Mullah, a 38-year-old civil engineer from Benghazi who was fighting with the rebel force, said government troops stopped all resistance after the international campaign began.

“The balance has changed a lot,” he said. “But pro-Gadhafi forces are still strong. They are a professional military and they have good equipment. Ninety percent of us rebels are civilians, while Gadhafi’s people are professional fighters.”

Disorganization among the rebels could also hamper their attempts to exploit the turn of events. Since the uprising began, the opposition has been made up of disparate groups even as it took control of the entire east of the country.

Regular citizens – residents of the “liberated” areas – took up arms and formed a ragtag, highly enthusiastic but highly undisciplined force that in the past weeks has charged ahead to fight Gadhafi forces, only to be beaten back by superior firepower. Regular army units that joined the rebellion have proven stronger, more organized fighters, but only a few units have joined the battles while many have stayed behind as officers struggle to get together often antiquated, limited equipment and form a coordinated force.

Discord also plagued the coalition. The U.S. was eager to pass leadership off, but the allies were deeply divided on the issue. Turkey was adamantly against NATO taking charge, while Italy hinted Monday it would stop allowing use of its airfields if the veteran alliance is not given the leadership. Germany and Russia also criticized the way the mission is being carried out.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin railed against the U.N.-backed airstrikes as outside meddling “reminiscent of a medieval call for a Crusade.”

In contrast, the British parliament lent clear support, voting 557 to 13 in favor of using armed forces to enforce the Security Council resolution to use “all necessary measures” to protect civilians in Libya.

In Libya, a “political leadership” has formed among the rebels, made up of former members of Gadhafi’s regime who defected along with prominent local figures in the east, such as lawyers and doctors. The impromptu nature of their leadership has left some in the West – particularly in the United States – unclear on who the rebels are that the international campaign is protecting.

Ali Zeidan, an envoy to Europe from the opposition-created governing council, told the Associated Press that rebels want to drive Gadhafi from power and see him tried – not have him killed. He said that while airstrikes have helped, the opposition needs more weapons to win the fight.

“We are able to deal with Gadhafi’s forces by ourselves” as long as it’s a fair fight, he said in Paris. “You see, Gadhafi himself, we are able to target him, and we would like to have him alive to face the international or the Libyan court for his crime. … We don’t like to kill anybody … even Gadhafi himself.”

At the Pentagon, Ham said Monday afternoon that during the previous 24 hours, U.S. and British forces launched 12 Tomahawk land attack missiles, targeting regime command-and-control facilities and a missile facility and attacking one air defense site that already had been attacked.

“Through a variety of reports, we know that regime ground forces that were in the vicinity of Benghazi now possess little will or capability to resume offensive operations,” he said.

A spokesman for the French military, whose warplanes have been conducting strikes in the Benghazi region, said there is a “very clear scale-down in the intensity of combat and, therefore, threats to the population” because of the bombardment.

“There still are pro-Gadhafi elements in the zone where we’re working. Nevertheless, these elements haven’t necessarily been dealt with because they are mixed in, for example with the civilian population,” Thierry Burkhard said.