At Least 31 Killed as NATO Pounds Tripoli

Most of Gadhafi Compound Destroyed in Latest Escalation

NATO’s latest escalation in the city of Tripoli took an even more deadly turn today, as warplanes pounded targets across the Libyan capital killing at least 31 people, including an unknown number of civilians.

More than 50 bombs were dropped across the city, destroying most of Moammar Gadhafi’s command compound and a number of other buildings. The attacks appear not to have accomplished much of anything politically, however, as Gadhafi issued a defiant radio speech condemning the attacks.

And indeed the attacks will likely add to international concerns that NATO’s repeated, fruitless escalations are just a gradual slide toward what will ultimately be a ground invasion of Libya. NATO has denied this but doesn’t appear to have an alternative strategy, beyond continuing the stalemate indefinitely.

The latest escalation comes after NATO deployed attack helicopters into Libya, the latest move in a long series which started with a “no-fly zone” and has now devolved into carpet bombing a major city in the hopes that something will improve.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.