No Fly Zone?

The United States, Britain and France pushed forward against Libya on Friday as they declared that a cease-fire abruptly announced by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government was not enough, at least for now, to ward off military action against his forces.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, echoing remarks hours earlier by Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, said in Washington on Friday morning that the United States would be “not responsive or impressed by words.”’ She said that the allies would “have to see actions on the ground, and that is not yet at all clear.”

Those actions included, she said, a clear move by Colonel Qaddafi’s forces away from the east, where they were threatening a final assault on the rebels’ stronghold in Benghazi.

Allies Press Libya, Saying Declaration of Cease-Fire Is Not Enough
New York Times

Didn't take long to prove those who said a no-fly zone was going to lead a wider intervention right.

The Libyan air force was never much of a factor in the civil war there, something the anti-interventionists tried to point out as evidence of a hidden agenda. A no fly zone was meaningless except as the thin edge of the full scale interventionists wedge. It's easier to get approval for what seems like a no-risk operation and expand into a more robust intervention afterward than get full blown approval to begin. If you blinked after the UN vote then you may have missed the goal post shifting, laying the foundation for invasion. Note that the UN resolution actually succeeded beyond the liberal interventionists wildest dreams, Qaddafi not only offered to halt any activity in the air, he offered a ceasefire to all ground fighting. It's no longer enough for Qaddaffi not to use his air force, the ostensible point of a no fly zone, nor is it enough to stop all fighting, now he has to pay heed to Washington's demands or face an attack. Even if he does, then Washington will come up with another set of demands, and on until intervention becomes 'necessary.'

The West's concerned about oil under them sands. I wish we could lock Clinton, Qaddafi, Obama, and David Cameron in a room somewhere and let them sort it out, because there's people living atop them sands.