The Other McCain

Nobody can decide how to spell his name, and yet Moammar Qaddafi continues to hold on in Libya, while oil jumps past $100 a barrel, endangering The American Way of Life. (Ah, for the good ol’ days, when U.S. foreign policy was outsourced to Halliburton and the Mossad.)

Frankly, I expected the Libyan strongman’s regime would collapse shortly after his voluptuous Ukrainian nurse skipped town, but a week later Moammar keeps hanging in there like Charlie Sheen surrounded by a coterie of enablers. So this compels us to update you on the latest news from Benghazi:

Libyan forces attacked rebel-held areas again on Monday, reportedly seizing control of the oil town of Ras Lanuf after most residents evacuated.
But even as troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi tried to reverse the rebels’ territorial gains, a former Libyan prime minister appeared on the state-controlled television station and called for negotiations to end the weeks-long uprising.
In Washington, President Obama warned Libyan officials close to Gaddafi that they would share the blame for “unacceptable” violence against civilians, and he noted that NATO is holding consultations in Brussels on a wide range of options, “including potential military options.”

Which is to say, we’ve got no freaking clue how this thing is going to turn out. I’m sure Qaddafi’s just shaking in his shoes: “A NATO meeting in Brussels? Oh, noes!” Meanwhile, he’s getting support from a fellow member of the Evil Dictators Club:

Moammar Gaddafi is hunkered down, some once-loyal aides have abandoned him for the rebel side, and President Obama and other leaders are demanding he step down.
But he still has a friend – the man who received the al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. . . .
Chavez has in recent days venerated Gaddafi for his revolutionary credentials and asserted that the United States is about to invade the North African country to seize its oil. He also convened a meeting Friday in the Venezuelan capital in which his allies, including Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia, agreed to a vague peace mission to end the violence in Libya.
“The countries of the Bolivarian alliance are demanding the United States and the world powers respect the people of Libya,” Chavez said to cheering, red-shirted supporters. “No to imperialist intervention in Libya! No to a new imperialist war that looks for oil over the blood of innocents!”

Hugo and Moammar, sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Here’s an Associated Press video report on the fighting in Libya:

On other fronts, it looks like Libya’s neighbors are trying to horn in on some of that “imperialist intervention” stuff:

Egypt Quietly Invades Libya
The rebellion against the Kadaffi dictatorship in Libya has not produced any official outside help, but Egypt has apparently sent some of its commandos in to help out the largely amateur rebel force. Wearing civilian clothes, the hundred or so Egyptian commandos are officially not there, but are providing crucial skills and experience to help the rebels cope with the largely irregular, and mercenary, force still controlled by the Kadaffi clan. There are also some commandos from Britain (SAS) and American (Special Forces) operators are also believed wandering around, mainly to escort diplomats or perform reconnaissance (and find out who is in charge among the rebels).

So we’ve got Egyptian commandos leading anti-Qaddafi forces, while Qaddafi gets love-notes from Hugo Chavez and Obama apparently expects a NATO meeting in Brussels to strike fear into the dictator’s heart.

How’s that Hope and Change workin’ for ya?

Forgive me for suggesting that, in the good ol’ days, this problem would be solved by Dick Cheney picking up the telephone and speaking a single sentence: “Find Qaddafi and blow his ass away.”

And we’d be paying no more than $2.39 a gallon for regular unleaded by the end of next week.