WHAT CEASE-FIRE? – AT 10:11 A.M. ET:  The Libyan government announced a cease-fire yesterday.  The announcement does not seem to reflect reality.  From WaPo:

TRIPOLI, LIBYA — Forces loyal to Moammar Gaddafi entered the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi Saturday after shelling and fierce fighting, a fresh act of defiance even as the United States and its allies prepared to launch military attacks on Libya.

Government troops in tanks and trucks entered Benghazi from the west, in the university area, and began to shell the city, including civilian areas. Intense fighting broke out in some enclaves. The city of 1 million quickly became a ghost town, with residents fleeing or seeking cover in barricaded neighborhoods.

A warplane was shot down over Benghazi, and rebel leaders later claimed it as one of their own. While they said mechanical problems caused the crash, calls from mosques across the city suggested that friendly fire brought down the plane. “Don’t attack the airplanes because these are our planes,” a mosque preacher urged over loudspeakers.

On Friday, President Obama warned that the Libyan leader faced imminent military action unless his troops were withdrawn from all disputed cities in the country. But the besieged town of Misurata, 130 miles east of Tripoli, was still coming under heavy artillery fire, residents said, and there were also reports of continued fighting around Ajdabiya, even farther to the east. The assaults on rebel-held towns took place despite government promises of a cease-fire.

COMMENT:  Meanwhile, the president of the United States jetted off to Brazil and the secretary of state jetted over to Paris for still one more international meeting on Libya, to be held before any firm action is taken.

The reality is that the U.S. and Western Europe cannot wait many more hours before military action must start.  With the "cease-fire" a joke, we may only be looking at hours before the rebel cause collapses entirely.

March 19, 2011