The United States said Sunday that the allied forces’ attacks on Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s bases have stopped his blinding attacks on the rebel city of Benghazi.
With virtually the whole world having condemned Qaddafi, the dictator termed the Western nations “terrorists” who are waging “war against Islam." Qaddafi vowed they were in for a long fight as American B-2 bombers strafed a Libyan air base on Sunday in the largest Western intervention in the Muslim world since the American-led invasion of Iraq.
Continuing his rant that Western nations are trying to takeover Libyan’s oil, Qaddafi vowed that “oil will not be left to the United States, France and Britain.”
American, British and French forces took the offensive against Qaddafi two days ago in order to impose a no-fly zone sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staffs, told NBC's Meet the Press Sunday that the allied forces "took out" Qaddafi's defenses. He pointed out that the Western offensive has kept Qaddafi's planes grounded and that the mission is humanitarian rather than an effort to oust the dictator.
U.S. President Barack Obama, since the beginning of the revolt against Qaddafi more than two weeks ago, has been reticent to risk accusations of American interference in Libyan domestic affairs. He said Saturday night that Britain and France led the aerial offensive against Qaddafi’s defense system.
Leaders of the revolt against Qaddafi had asked Western nations more than a week to help them, but no active response came until the United Nations agreed to declare a "no-fly" zone against Libya. In the interim, Qaddafi unleashed relentless attacks on civilians and on oil facilities in an effort to crush the revolt.
Qaddafi accused the Western allies of killing nearly 50 civilians, and his deputies showed reporters on Saturday a group of “human shields” who surrounded his compound. However, he has not been seen in public for days, and his television appearances are produced from unknown locations.
The Western attacks may have stopped from Qaddafi from destroying the rebellion’s strength. His tanks and airplanes had overwhelmed the city of Benghazi, the capital of the rebels, before the counter-offensive.
The Arab League has joined the world in condemning Qaddafi for what has been termed genocide in his gunning down of women and children and everyone who joined anti-government rallies. However, Arab countries so far have declined to join the Western military effort. It sharply criticized the Western offensive Sunday, saying the no-fly zone was meant to protect civilians and not to serve as a stage for attacking Qaddafi's forces.