The attack — near the front lines outside the eastern oil port of Brega — would be the second accidental NATO strike against rebel forces in less than a week and brought cries of outrage from fighters struggling against Moammar Gadhafi's larger and more experienced military.
Rebels, already unhappy that our air support doesn't really try to help them when in direct combat with the loyalists, protested:
But rebel discontent with NATO appears to be growing. Opposition commanders have complained in recent days that the airstrikes were coming too slowly and lacking the precision to give the rebels a clear edge. NATO officials say that the pro-Gadhafi troops have blended into civilian areas in efforts to frustrate the alliances bombing runs.
The rebel commander Adbul-Karim said the tops of rebel vehicles were marked with yellow under advice by NATO to identify the opposition forces.
One, I think we can assume that loyalist forces will now be marked with yellow on the tops of their vehicles.
Two, who could have predicted that our failure to actually provide effective ground support to help our allies win would alienate those allies? Really, won't the rebels worry that NATO believes the rebels are winning enough and so NATO must tilt the other way to level the playing field?
It may seem unfair since our air power--as limited as it is--really did rescue the rebels from defeat. But for rebels fighting and dying on the ground, the failure of purported allies since then to provide actual air support on the battlefield when we certainly have the capabilities to do so must be incomprehensible. You can say the rebels fail to appreciate the nuance of diplomatic realities, but smart diplomacy doesn't count for much when you are dying for your cause while NATO allies appear to be flying safely above watching it all, failing to bomb the enemy in front of you, and even hitting your own people.
What kind of insane war strategy are we pursuing when our allies are angrier with us than our enemy?
