Some newspapers have already begun to use the term stalemate in describing the situation in Libya. Over the weekend, one could say that both the coalition and Libya's Colonel Qaddafi scored a goal. For the coalition, it was the defection of Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa; for Qaddafi it was the "defection" of Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The Koussa defection was welcome on two fronts. First it stoked hopes that the Libyan leader's inner circle was turning against him. The British press carried stories, some of them probably planted, that even members of the Libyan dictator's immediate family were seeking a way out.

Secondly, it was hoped that the high-ranking defector could supply information on Qaddafi's involvement in such affairs as the Lockerbie plane bombing  and other atrocities that would provide the oxygen of indignation for continuing the intervention.

Gates did not fly to Tripoli in Libya to put himself at the disposal of the Qaddafi regime, but he put a major spoke in the wheel of the Obama Administration's information efforts by downgrading the Libyan insurgents as the equivalent of a sports pickup team. Arms, declared Gates, would not help them as they lacked organization.

Gates negated the insurgents' capacity for governance and said that  the United States was not going to engage in another nation building exercise as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates held out little prospect for a successful endgame. He wished NATO the very best in assuming the leadership from the United States, but at the same time expressed doubts that NATO would be up to the task once the United States withdrew crucial command-and-control components from the air war.

Gates also expressed fear about "mission creep" and extending US involvement. Gates was not enthusiastic to begin with about the Libyan intervention. He lost the fight within the administration, but instead of accelerating his departure, he is attempting to engage in what he probably considers damage limitation.

In the interim, one of the issues that has always plagued US intervention, the quality of the allies, is becoming troublesome. The Al Qaeda credential of some insurgents is a charge that is not going away. Similarly, when the coalition warns the insurgents that they must not harm civilians, it risks blurring the crucial moral difference between the insurgents and the Qaddafi regime at the heart of Obama's argument.

A stalemate translates into additional civilian casualties, again dampening the ardor for a fight in some quarters. The insurgents were quick to absolve the coalition for the friendly fire killing of insurgents because they realize how the episode will play.

The diplomatic front is not going to stay quiet. China, which is going to host a BRICS -Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – Summit on April 14, is lobbying other members to take a stern stand against Western allies' air strikes on Libya. While German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle may soon have to step down as leader of the Free Democratic Party and his post of Foreign Minister, he joined China during his current visit to the Far East in insisting that there could only be a political solution to the Libyan crisis.

In Britain, where there was initial enthusiasm for the intervention, second thoughts are beginning to set in. Former military leaders are warning of overstretch in the House of Lords The Daily Mail that was a leader in the pack exposing Britain's shameful dealing with Libya and supporting forceful action, called for reassessment in an editorial today.

 Yesterday the idealism of intervention was beginning to look a little tattered, after credible claims of civilian deaths and of mistaken attacks on rebel forces. What at first appeared easy and simple has now become complex and risky.

The current intervention that attempted to fine-tune scope and means may find itself shortly in a pincer group from critics who believe that too much was done needlessly and those who believe that without decisive force and a clear commitment to Qaddafi's ouster, there is no point to persist in the exercise.