A recent report suggests anti-Gadhafi forces captured a British team sent to make contact with them.
We in the West have been operating under the assumption that the anti-Gadhafi forces will be pro-West. It may not be the case. How do we find out? The British are taking a step in that direction. The first step would be to find out who's in charge. Second step would be to make contact.
The Brits may have skipped the first step because I'm not sure anybody knows who's in charge. We don't really even know if there is one unified faction or a spectrum. Once Gadhafi is gone, we could end up with a Lebanon-style fragmentation.
My sense of it is the Brits did the right thing, but the risks have become all too obvious. We could lose every team we send. |