Major protests were held in Tripoli against the regime in the past few days, but today, at gunpoint, the loyalists are demanding residents to pledge loyalty to Gadhafi or face summary execution on the streets.
Protesters have been making major inroads into Western Libya, and are in the process of setting up an informal interim government in East Libya, but the regime, such as it is, clearly hopes to cling to power in Tripoli as long as it can.
How long will that be? It is hard to pinpoint, but clearly the Gadhafi regime is on its last legs, and their control over Tripoli appears tenuous, at best, and even then dependent on thousands of mercenaries with machine guns pointed at the average citizen. It seems hard to believe, then, that this measure is anything but the last gasp of a dying dictatorship.
He`s relying heavily on the foreign mercenaries because that`s likely all he has left. At this point he simply cannot trust the Libyan army to carry out orders. Too many defections.
I happen to believe that this man may be vain enough that in the end if he is not killed,to take it to trial so he can put on yet another show rather than commit suicide.
The US needs to stay out of this new awakening of the Arab people and not try to meddle and manipulate the situation. All of those old wounds could be healed if America does the right thing.
Don't count on that. If there's somebody more stupid and criminal than Gaddafi, it's the USG.
Americas middle east policy (control the oil) is failing much as MacNamaras Domino Theory in Viet Nam, "we have too stop the commies".
With Gadaffi´s fall, who will be next? Saudi Arabia?