Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday that Moammar Gadhafi must "immediately step down," a major escalation of Turkish pressure on the Libyan leader with whom Turkey has long-standing ties.
In a perfect world, this reflects the resolve of the coalition and means that in the long run, we defeat Khaddafi.
On the other hand, if Turkey's declaration is the exception that proves the rule, the short or medium term problems will take place before the long-run victory can be achieved.
I'm betting on the latter. But we could get lucky, I admit.
UPDATE: Italy teeters:
Italy pledged on Tuesday to seek an end date for NATO's Libya operations as Premier Silvio Berlusconi sought to placate a key government partner opposed to Italian participation in the bombing missions.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters that Rome "will try, along with international organizations, and until, until I'm proven wrong, NATO, and its allies, to set an end" date for the operations.
Rome recently agreed to allow its warplanes to participate in NATO bombing missions as a way to increase pressure on the Libyan regime of Moammar Gadhafi.
There is also the matter of Italy's air bases that the coalition uses to attack Khaddafi's forces.
