The July 28 killing of general Abdel Fatah Younis has caused unrest within the rebel coalition. Younis belonged to the Obeidi tribe, which is from the eastern city of Tobruk (150 kilometers from Egypt with a population of 115,000). ...
This brought to light a major problem with the NTC [Note: National Transitional Council ], that it is a very loose coalition of anti-Kaddafi groups. Many, if not most, of the rebel gunmen are not out fighting government troops, but have instead taken control of towns, cities and villages all over the country, mainly in the east. ...
NTC efforts to form a unified army have largely failed. Most of the militia groups want to continue as part of a military coalition, not a formal army. This, of course, makes it easier to go from rebellion to civil war, once Kaddafi is defeated.
Which brings up an interesting angle. In the last couple months, most of the fighting has been done by western rebels while the eastern rebels remained stuck in front of Burayqah (Brega). If the western rebels march into Tripoli, who thinks the western rebels will simply invite the eastern rebels who didn't bleed for the victory into the coalition?
The eastern rebels certainly have a plan for that stage:
A 70-page plan prepared by the National Transitional Council (NTC) with help from Western powers and seen by the Times concedes they have little chance of toppling the long-serving ruler but that internal divisions will force him out.
In that event, the rebels plan to establish a 10,000-15,000 strong "Tripoli task force" to secure the capital and capture prominent Gaddafi supporters. ...
The rebels claim that 800 current Gaddafi government officials have already been recruited to their cause, and could form a key plank of a post-conflict security apparatus, the paper reported.
The document also maps out how telecommunications, power and transport infrastructure will be secured in the immediate hours after the regime's collapse.
Gosh, I knew it would be awesome by now! They'll even stop the looting of the infrastructure--something even we couldn't manage in Iraq in 2003! Awesome!
Oh, and the rebels are working on an even larger plan! Thank goodness the western rebels are fighting Khaddafi while the eastern rebels focus on the more important post-Khaddafi plans. Fighting is for the little people dangerously close to Khaddafi's forces. Planning is for those lucky enough to be close to NATO advisers.
Somehow I doubt that the eastern rebel plan to sweep in when the regime collapses will work. If the regime collapses, it will be because the western rebels cause the regime to collapse. The NTC plan to forge a coalition of the defeated, the battlefield victors, and themselves will not be widely accepted outside of Benghazi.
The question then becomes do the rebels continue the war for sole control of Libya or do they separate?
If the civil war continues after Khaddafi (assuming Khaddafi goes down, of course), what does NATO do?
