NATO Threatens to Bomb Libyan Rebels

We are told in a New York Times article entitled "NATO Warns Libyan Rebels Against Attacking Civilians" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/world/africa/01civilians.html?_r=1&src=twrhp&pagewanted=print), written by Thom Shanker and Charlie Savage, that NATO is threatening to bomb the rebels in Libya if they harm civilians from tribes allied with Qaddafi:

"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."

This should come as no surprise. Notwithstanding protestations from pundits such as Nicholas Kristof that we are witnessing the dawn, albeit "messy" (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2011/03/nicholas-kristofs-democracy-is-messy.html), of democracy in the Muslim Middle East, Libya is a tribal conflict, and the rebels are capable of revenge and also adept at barbarism.

Yes, intervention was correct, as was the warning issued to the rebels: Qaddafi, who orchestrated the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, must go, and there is every reason to seek to prevent the massacre of civilians.

On the other hand, what emerges from this conflict, i.e. the devil we don't know, has yet to be seen. Democracy in Libya? Forget it.