McGrath-

What you are ignoring in your post is how dynamic war fronts are in an environment such as Libya. The nation, what's left of it, is clustered along the coastal highway. And the front can change dynamically back and forth hundreds of miles, as it did several times in World War 2 and as it has done in the last few weeks.

There may be a final strawman who breaks this camel's back, and Gadhafi is down for the count. And then there might well be mass confusion of who's in charge of the country then.

I don't think there will be a stalemate but the process may take another month to work itself out.

It would still be a major political mistake for Western powers to send in anything else but trainers and spotters. I doubt if the Arab League quite has the stomach to send in its own "peace-keeping" force but that would be an interesting twist. Someone needs to re-arm and re-supply the rebels.

Charley Noble