Speaking today on the defection of Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Kusa, the White House said it was a major blow to the Gadhafi regime, and said it proved that the Libyan ruler’s days are “numbered.”
Kusa was joined by a second defector, former UN representative Ali Abdussalam el-Treki, who also served as a foreign minister for Gadhafi at one point. Officials, including from the White House, hinted that more defections might be in the offing.
The Libyan government shrugged off the defections, saying that if people wanted to resign that was their business. Gadhafi also said the defection of Kusa was really just a sick old man taking a vacation to Britain.
Despite the comments about days being numbered and references to the “sinking ship” however, Admiral Michael Mullen said the Gadhafi military was still not close to its breaking point, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates reiterated that regime change was not the goal of the ongoing Libyan War.
