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Monday, February 21, 2011

Now It's a War

Libyan government forces are using aircraft and helicopters to bombard areas not under firm control:

"What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said in a live broadcast on al Jazeera television. "Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car, they will hit you."

While there is question about whether the aircraft are attacking people, they are being used since even the Libyan government admits they are being used against ammunition dumps. Even the latter is significant since it implies that the government doesn't have the troops to move in and secure the sites.

Libyan and Venezuelan sources deny Khaddafi is fleeing. The escalation certainly indicates he will fight and order killing on whatever scale it takes to win. We shall see how many obey those orders and how many desert or revolt.

But using air power--like the use of snipers earlier--indicates too few reliable security forces to control the streets.

UPDATE: News reports that the military is seeing units refusing to shoot at civilians. How many? Will they simply disintegrate or actually switch sides?