More Mass Defections From Gaddafi's Inner Circle?

Defector: Libya's ex-Foreign Minister Musa Kusa has fled to the UK and several senior figures could follow him

Now 12 More Of Gaddafi's Tyrant Men Head to Britain: Regime Faces Collapse As 'Dirty Dozen' Follow Musa Kusa -- Daily Mail

A 'dirty dozen' of senior Libyan officials are expected to follow Musa Kusa and defect from Colonel Gaddafi’s inner circle, leaving his regime on the verge of collapse.

Security sources claimed last night that two senior ministers in the Libyan government with long-standing links to the UK were already in Tunis discussing terms with British and French intelligence officers.

Rumours were swirling that Gaddafi’s head of intelligence and his Europe minister are also on the run.

Read more ....

My Comment: This news is probably just bravado and part of the propaganda war, Gaddafi's intelligence chief Bouzeid Dorda has already denied the rumors that he has defected. For a look at who has defected and who still remains in Gaddafi's inner circle .... the list is here.

U.S. Congress Nervous On The Direction Of The Libyan War

Gates, Mullen Face Hostile Libya Questions -- CNN

Washington (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday defended the administration's decision to intervene in Libya, arguing that military action was necessary to prevent a humanitarian disaster that could have sparked a refugee crisis while potentially destabilizing Egypt, Tunisia and the broader Middle East.

Gates, appearing with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen before skeptical members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, insisted that the "time and conditions were ripe for international military action."

Moammar Gadhafi will "kill as many (people) as he must to crush the rebellion," Mullen warned.

Read more ....

More News On Yesterday's Gates/Mullen Appearance In Front Of The House And Senate Armed Services Committees

Statement on Libya by Robert Gates (House Armed Services Committee) -- Robert M. Gates, Voltairenet.org
Robert Gates, Michael Mullen take heat in Senate -- Politico
White House called to mat on Libya -- UPI
Adm. Mullen: Bad Weather Hampering Libya Air Strikes -- RTT
Gates warns on protracted Libya conflict -- Financial Times
Gates, Mullen get tough questioning from House members on US involvement in Gadhafi’s Libya -- Washington Post
Gates, Mullen quizzed on Libya -- UPI
US military chiefs grilled on Libya strategy -- ABC News (Australia)
Gates, Mullen downplay nature of Libya mission -- Army Times
Defense Secretary Gates Likens Libyan Rebels' Chaos To 'Pick-Up Ballgame' -- NPR
Gates: U.S. lacks "visibility" into rebels -- CBS
2 Cabinet Officials Say U.S. Isn’t Likely to Arm Libyans -- New York Times
U.S. to 'ramp down' role in Libya, defense chief says -- Seattle Times/McClatchy News
Gates: no comment on any CIA role in Libya -- Reuters

With the Defection Of Musa Kusa, Will We Now Know The Story Of The Lockerbie Bombing

'Put Him On Trial': U.S. Lockerbie Families Urge 'Soft Touch' Britain To Bring Gaddafi Defector To Justice -- Daily Mail

* Musa Kusa, the brains behind Lockerbie bombing, defects to UK
* Calls for Kusa to face court for 'war crimes'
* Lockerbie relative hails a 'great day' in search for truth of atrocity

Relatives of American victims of the Lockerbie bombing today demanded the British government bring to justice the former Libyan foreign minister after he defected to the UK.

Musa Kusa is said to have been the brains behind the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am flight - which killed 270 people - and was today being questioned in a 'secure location' in the UK after defecting following pressure from British intelligence.

Read more ....

Update: Dilemma over defector's 'electrifying' Lockerbie information -- The Telegraph

My Comment: I have trouble seeing someone like Musa Kusa defecting without coming to some agreement with Britain on how he should be treated. I suspect that there is more to this story than what is being publicized, and we will not know about it until later (much later).

Remembering Heroes From The Second World War

Major Herbert 'Blondie' Hasler, right, in training for Operation Frankton and, inset, the Royal Marines officer after his escape through Spain disguised as a vagrant Photo: MOD/PA

New Monument For Cockleshell Heroes -- The Telegraph

A memorial to Second World War heroes who canoed almost 100 miles into occupied France to blow up enemy ships was unveiled yesterday after a Telegraph-backed fund-raising campaign.

The raid by the "Cockleshell Heroes" in December 1942 was so important that Winston Churchill reportedly claimed it could have shortened the war by six months.

But despite their actions being immortalised in film just over a decade later, there has until now been no public monument to recognise the bravery of the ten men.

In October we reported how Maj Malcolm Cavan, former head of the Special Boat Service, had begun raising money for a memorial at La Pointe de Grave, at the mouth of the Gironde river where the mission code-named "Operation Frankton" took place.

Read more ....

My Comment: A remarkable war story of courage and determination.

Nato Forces Involved In Operation Unified Protector

Hat Tip: Theo Spark

Picture Of The Day

CONTINUING THE PROMISE - U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, administers the oath of re-enlistment to troops in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 29, 2011. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Joshua Treadwell

Gaddafi's Libyan Army Is Still Loyal To Him

Vehicles belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi explode after an air strike by coalition forces, along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah March 20, 2011. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/Files

Libya Crisis: Gaddafi Army 'Not At Breaking Point' -- BBC

Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi's armed forces are not close to breaking point despite hundreds of allied air strikes, American military chiefs have said.

Adm Mike Mullen told a US Congress committee Col Gaddafi's troops still had 10 times the rebels' firepower.

At the same hearing, Defence Secretary Robert Gates reiterated the US would put no "boots on the ground" in Libya.

Rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces appear to have reached a stalemate in their fight for control of the country.

Read more ....

More News On The War Fighting Ability Of The Libyan Army

Libya's Gaddafi not close to breaking point-US -- Reuters
Kadhafi's forces have not been brought to a breaking point -- AFP
Mullen: Gaddafi not at breaking point -- Press TV (Iran)
Gaddafi army 'not at breaking point' despite repeated Allied air strikes -- Daily India/ANI
US military chiefs warn Gaddafi’s army remains powerful despite air strikes -- International Business Times

My Comment: The ability to adapt and continue to pound the rebels even in the face of allied coalition bombing .... this tells me that Gaddafi's forces are more loyal and capable than what we have been led to believe. This conflict is truly (and rapidly) becoming the West's unwanted war in Libya.

Does This Mean That We Are Going To Also 'Bomb" The Rebels?

Rebel fighters near Ajdabiyah on Thursday. At times when the rebels are gaining ground, the allies fear that the rebels will inevitably try to take loyalist cities by force, and could end up endangering or even killing civilians there. Andrew Winning/Reuters

NATO Warns Rebels Against Attacking Civilians -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Members of the NATO alliance have sternly warned the rebels in Libya not to attack civilians as they push against the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, according to senior military and government officials.

As NATO takes over control of airstrikes in Libya, and the Obama administration considers new steps to tip the balance of power there, the coalition has told the rebels that if they endanger civilians, they will not be shielded from possible bombardment by NATO planes and missiles, just as the government’s forces have been punished.

Read more ....

My Comment: The sentence that caught my eye was the following ....

“We’ve been conveying a message to the rebels that we will be compelled to defend civilians, whether pro-Qaddafi or pro-opposition,” said a senior Obama administration official. “We are working very hard behind the scenes with the rebels so we don’t confront a situation where we face a decision to strike the rebels to defend civilians.”

Threatening our friends and allies in a war situation is not going to win us friends and allies when this is all over.

Donald Rumsfeld: 'Kill Team' Afghan Photos Are 'Much Worse' Than Iraq's Abu Ghraib

Donald Rumsfeld Labels 'Kill Team' Afghan Photos As 'Much Worse' Than Iraq's Abu Ghraib -- Daily Mail

The former defence secretary for President George W. Bush has described the Afghanistan ‘Kill Team’ photos as ‘much worse’ than those from Abu Ghraib.

Donald Rumsfeld said the images were more depraved than those taken of U.S. soldiers putting detainees in humiliating positions at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

The Pentagon apologised on Monday after shocking new details emerged of how U.S. soldiers formed a 'death squad' to randomly murder and mutilate Afghan civilians.

Read more ....

My Comment: I commented on this a few days ago, but former defense secretary Rumsfeld is right, the 'Kill Team's' Afghan photos depicting murdered Afghans is much worse than Abu Ghraib. But while these photos are much worse .... there is no equivalent media coverage on this administration as the case was with Abu Ghraib and the Bush administration .... not even close. Kudos to the Daily Mail (and a few U.S. outlets) to recognize this contradictory news coverage.

Editor's Note

For the past month I have been working on a contract that has been taking a good chunk of my time. While I have been able to keep up with my blogging on War News Updates, I have been quite often late in doing so (like today). This should come to an end by this Monday. Aside from one week in which I will be busy (that is in two weeks from now), I will be free till the end of this year to further develop and expand this blog .... a project that I am very much looking forward to.