President Barack Obama, under fire for security lapses at a U.S. mission in Libya, will in a speech on Thursday lay out his wide-ranging counter-terrorism policy, from the controversial use of drones to efforts to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Obama’s use of military drone aircraft to attack extremists has drawn fire and increased tensions in countries like Pakistan and been criticized by human rights activists in the United States.

His inability to follow through on a 2008 campaign pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay prison has been dramatized by a hunger strike among many of the terrorism suspects being held there.

And the resurgence in recent weeks of questions surrounding the deaths of U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in an attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, last year has put Obama on the defensive.

In his State of the Union speech early this year Obama pledged to work with Congress to make certain that the U.S. targeting, detention and prosecution of terrorism suspects was consistent with U.S. law.

A White House official said Obama would address these issues in a speech on Thursday at the National Defense University in Washington. He will say that al Qaeda has been significantly degraded but remains a threat, along with its affiliates, the official said on condition of anonymity.

“He will review the state of the threats we face, particularly as al Qaeda’s core has weakened but new dangers have emerged,” said the official.

Obama also will discuss the policy and legal framework under which the United States acts against terrorism threats, including the use of drones.

“He will review our detention policy and efforts to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and he will frame the future of our efforts against al Qaeda, its affiliates and adherents,” the official said.

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Despite an apparent outpouring of support for a proposal first put forward by Wall Street Journal photo editor Patrick Whelan, efforts to name a Brooklyn Bridge Park lawn in memory of photojournalist Chris Hondros have been quashed, as the officials behind the lawn-naming contest state that they will not consider naming the space after an individual.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Executive Director Nancy Webster said they received over 200 e-mails about Hondros. 

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  View Slideshow

  Chris Hondros: Selected Photos from Libya

Hondros was born in Queens and lived in Brooklyn, most recently in DUMBO, the same neighborhood in which the park is located. He was killed on assignment in Misrata, Libya on April 20, 2011, while covering the rebel uprising. Metro has gathered some of his photos from Libya in a slideshow on the left.

That Hondros’ birthday is this Thursday, March 14, and the second anniversary of his death is next month, contributed to the urgency and excitement to name the lawn for him, Whelan told Photo District News.

Webster said that when the e-mails about Hondros started coming in, they realized their intentions with the contest “hadn’t been clear enough.”

“What we were looking for was a name that was expressive of the park and in line with names for other sections of the park, like the Harbor View Lawn or the Spiral Tidal Pool,” Webster said.

The e-mails about Hondros were so moving, though, that they felt compelled to reply.

“We realized that we had raised expectations of doing something that we felt like we couldn’t fulfill,” Webster explained.

Webster’s e-mail response explained their original intentions, and went on to say that “there are so very many deserving and special Brooklyn residents to memorialize and pay tribute to… as such, the naming of one lawn for one person does not seem fully inclusive of the larger community.”

Photographer Alan Chin told PDN that the message was “disingenuous.”

“All kinds of parks and parts of parks are named for all kinds of people,” he added.

Chin referenced the Louis J. Valentino Park in his neighborhood, named for a local firefighter who died in a burning building in 1996, and PDN added a number of “city-run parks in Brooklyn alone” including McCarren Park, Maria Hernandez Park, J.J. Byrne Payfround, or the Lt. Federico Narvarez Tot Lot, which were named for a state senator, a city council member, a Building Department clerk and a New York police lieutenant respectively.

But Webster stood firm on that position.

“There’s usually a much more involved process around doing that and in this instance we were speaking of a very small lawn within the park and wanting to stay within the framework of names that were suggestive of park features,” she said.

Webster said they will not consider naming the park for Hondros, or any person.

However, the e-mail sent to some of Hondros’ supporters stated that “as Brooklyn Bridge Park continues to grow and mature, we will be considering how we might best honor the memories of those we have lost,” and promised to reach out to the Chris Hondros Fund, established after his death to support emerging photojournalists,  ”to see if there might be a more fitting way to pay tribute to Chris and his work.”

Christina Piaia, President of the Chris Hondros Fund and Hondros’ fiancé, said she hoped a physical space to “gather in [Hondros'] name” could be established, and “that the group of friends that started this and the Fund can take a role in that, too.”

“We got a lot of lovely notes about times people spent with Chris in New York,” Piaia said. “We were disappointed by the news, but we’re hopeful that this can build momentum to continue Chris’ legacy in other ways.”

Benefit and silent auction to come in June

Plans are underway for the Chris Hondros Fund’s second annual benefit and silent auction, where the Chris Hondros and Getty Images Award will be bestowed to an emerging photojournalist.

The event will take place sometime in June of this year, Piaia said.

Last year’s event featured Lara Logan from CBS as a guest speaker, and the first ever Christ Hondros and Getty Images award was given to photojournalist Andrea Bruce. The Fund is in the process of selecting a team of nominators to choose this year’s winner in the spring.

Piaia said she is looking forward to this year’s event, after the success of last year.

“Being in that room with so many people who loved him was a very cathartic experience,” she said.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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These are some of the photos Chris Hondros took in Libya in the days before he was killed.  When Hondros took these photos, thousands of civilians were trapped in Misrata as fighting raged on between Libyan government forces that had surrounded the city and anti-government rebels there.

The post Chris Hondros: Selected Photos from Libya appeared first on Metro.us.

Among the key recommendations are:

- The United States should strengthen security in high-risk diplomatic posts beyond that traditionally supplied by host governments, and continually reassess staffing to account for potential threats.

- The State Department should re-examine the organization and management of its Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and incorporate a new senior State Department official charged with overseeing security at “high threat” posts.

- The State Department should establish a panel of independent experts, including people with experience in military, security and humanitarian areas, to support the Bureau of Diplomatic Security on best practices and evaluate security at high-risk facilities.

- The State Department should have a minimum security level for temporary facilities in high-risk environments, and streamline procedures for rapid security upgrades at such facilities as required.

- All U.S. government facilities in the same city should be in the same secure location unless a waiver has been obtained.

- The Secretary of State should request an action plan from security officials on the use of fire as a weapon against diplomatic facilities, and it should also include reviews of fire safety and crisis management training for all employees.

- In general, the State Department should create training courses for its employees to better prepare them for leadership and decision-making in high-risk posts.

- The State Department should work with Congress to restore capital spending on diplomatic security to approximately $2.2 billion by 2015, including a program of up to 10 years to prioritize construction of new facilities in high-risk areas.

- The State Department should act on its proposal to increase both Marine security at diplomatic facilities and hire more diplomatic security personnel for high-risk posts.

- Key U.S. policy and security staff in high-risk posts should be assigned for a minimum of one year, and temporary staff for a period of not less than 120 days.

- The State Department should ensure there are adequate local staff including interpreters employed at high-risk posts, and improve language training among American employees, particularly in the Middle East.

- The State Department should change its regulations so that unsatisfactory performance by senior officials connected to future security incidents could be a basis for discipline.

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Israel’s leaders don’t want a Palestinian state, Jimmy Carter tells Metro in an exclusive interview. The former US President, who still conducts international negotiations and is now a member The Elders, won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. He just returned from the Middle East.

METRO: The chances of a Palestinian state are fading. Whose job is it to fix this situation?

CARTER: The first priority would be for the Israelis and Palestinians to take the initiative. But the Israelis have continued with their massive settlement program in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the Palestinians say they won’t negotiate as long as Israel is continuing to take over their territory, so there’s deadlock. The United States is looked upon by the rest of the international community as the primary interlocutor, so the European Union members don’t take action. As a result, there’s no intermediary who can move things forward and initiate peace talks.

President Obama says he supports a Palestinian state, but even so there’s a deadlock. Does it take even more than the support of a US President to get a Palestinian state?

I think the big change is that the Israeli leaders have decided to abandon the two-state solution. Their policy now is to confiscate Palestinian territory, and they’ve announced publicly that it the Palestinians have to recognize not just Israel but Israel as a Jewish state, even though 20% of the Israeli community are non-Jews. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has also decided that even the Jordan valley has to be under Israeli control. So, those factors indicate quite clearly that Netanyahu has decided that the two-state solution is not what he wants. He wants what is being called Greater Israel, Eretz Israel.

The Arab Spring had worldwide support. Now four diplomats have been killed and the region is considered less safe. Are dictators sometimes better than democracy?

I don’t think so at all. For example, the Egyptian people had a very safe series of elections. As the Carter Center, we’ve been here for several of these elections, and have also monitored the elections in Tunisia and Libya. I don’t think there’s any doubt that the termination of the dictators has been a major beneficial development. The outside world just tends to be too impatient. The United States declared our independence from Britain in 1776, and it wasn’t until 12 years later that we had a constitution. Egypt is going to have a constitution within a year of the President assuming power.

So we’re simply too worried about Islamists?

Look at the Muslim Brotherhood. I’ve known the Muslim Brotherhood leaders for 20 years. They were persecuted by the Mubarak government, imprisoned and so forth, and now they’ve gone to the people in an honest, fair and safe election. And, of course, they’ve prevailed because their candidate became President and they have a majority in Parliament. But they’re a very moderate group of Islamists, whereas salafists and others are much more radical, at least judging with Western criteria.

The YouTube video defaming Islam caused attacks and huge protests in the Arab world, including possibly the killing American diplomats in Libya. Who’s to blame? Is there too much freedom of speech in the US, or are Muslims too sensitive?

First of all, all the evidence now shows that the killings of the four American diplomats in Libya weren’t caused by the film but was instead a planned attack by al Qaeda. In the US, Britain, Norway, Sweden and other countries in the West we believe in the right of expression. Western leaders are often criticized in scandalous ways in paintings, words and sculptures, and that criticism is accepted as legitimate. But we deplore when there’s a scandalous statement like the ones made in that YouTube film. We regret that it has caused pain to believers in the Islamic faith, but it happens to our own faith as well. But freedom of speech includes freedom of blasphemy.

But isn’t it frightening in itself that a deranged YouTube video posted by an obscure individual can undo years of diplomacy?

Yes, it is frightening. I’m a Christian; I teach Bible school every Sunday. I’ve heard and seen statements made about my own faith that cause me pain. But I don’t want the blasphemous person who made the statements put in jail. Yes, it’s painful to see the reaction in the Arab world, but I think we have to anticipate it. People in the non-Muslim world who deliberately do this in order to cause Muslims pain underestimate the violence that can erupt from aggrieved Muslims. It’s painful and unfortunate, but when you have to choose between that kind of pain and the right of freedom to voice your opinions we come down on the side of freedom.

Carter facts

Family: Wife Rosalynn; four children
Background: Governor of Georgia. President of the United States 1976-1980. Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2002
In the news: Members of The Elders, peace negotiator. Heads the Carter Center, which monitors democracy and elections. Recently returned from the Middle East
Interesting fact: Devout Evangelical Christian; still teaches Sunday school every week.

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Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein said Petraeus was willing to testify about the September 11 attack in Benghazi, but the timing had not yet been decided, a spokesman for the California Democrat said.

U.S. lawmakers are demanding to know more about the timeline of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into Petraeus’ affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

Representative Lamar Smith, the Texas Republican who heads the House Judiciary Committee, wrote the head of the FBI asking for both a timeline and whether Petraeus is the focus of a criminal probe.

“Has the FBI concluded that General Petraeus is not the subject of any criminal or intelligence-related investigation?” Smith asked in the letter.

Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, speaking in Perth, Australia, warned against jumping to conclusions over the actions of another military figure, Marine General John Allen, a day after placing him under investigation in connection with the Petraeus scandal.

Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, who denies any wrongdoing, is being investigated for potentially inappropriate communications with a woman at the center of the Petraeus case, Jill Kelley, a Florida socialite.

Panetta defended his decision to refer the case to the Pentagon’s inspector general and for suspending Allen’s nomination to another top position in the U.S. military, saying it was a prudent step “until we determine what the facts are.”

“And we will,” Panetta told reporters at high-level talks in Perth, also attended by the top U.S. military officer, General Martin Dempsey, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

At the same time, he praised Allen’s work commanding the Afghan war effort, a position he retains despite the probe.

“No one should leap to any conclusions here. General Allen is doing an excellent job at ISAF, in leading those forces,” Panetta said, referring to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

“He certainly has my continued confidence to lead our forces and continue the fight.”

Clinton acknowledged that allies had raised questions about the Allen case but said there was “no concern whatsoever being expressed to us” about the mission in Afghanistan.

Defense officials and people close to Petraeus say neither he nor Allen had a romantic relationship with Kelley, a 37-year-old wife and mother, who is described as a prominent presence in military circles in Tampa.

She may have been seen as a rival by Broadwell, who sent Kelley a series of anonymous, harassing emails which touched off an investigation that uncovered evidence of an affair between Petraeus and Broadwell, according to a law enforcement source.

FBI investigators decided to pursue the matter when they found the messages contained information about the CIA chief’s activities that was not publicly available, law enforcement officials said.

Kelley had gotten to know both Petraeus and Allen as a volunteer setting up social events at MacDill Air Force Base outside Tampa, headquarters of U.S. Central Command.

The relationship was evidently close enough that both men intervened in a child custody battle involving Kelley’s twin sister, Natalie Khawam.

“She is a dedicated mother, whose only focus is to provide the necessary support, love, and care for her son,” Allen wrote about Khawam in a September 22 letter to a Washington, D.C., court.

Allen and Kelley communicated often enough over the past two years to produce between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of email and other messages, which were turned over to Defense Department investigators on Sunday.

The actual volume of communications is likely much smaller, an official said, as the printouts include messages involving other people and email threads including prior communications.

A senior defense official told Reuters the messages were seen as inappropriate because they were “flirtatious” in nature, not because they dealt with sensitive information.

But “flirtatious” may be an understatement. Another U.S. official said the Pentagon only decided to refer it for investigation after an initial look found the communications to be of “a sufficient character” to warrant further review.

Allen has denied that he and Kelley had a sexual relationship, officials said on condition of anonymity. Adultery can lead to a dishonorable discharge under U.S. military law.

WHITE HOUSE BACKS ALLEN

The scandal complicates President Barack Obama’s efforts to reorganize his national security team following his re-election. The White House said it still had faith in Allen, but acknowledged that its plans to transfer him to Europe, where he would head U.S. and allied forces, have been suspended.

Obama also has to find a replacement for Petraeus at the CIA at a time when the president is vetting candidates to head the State and Defense departments.

The scandal could throw a wrench into Obama’s relations with Congress at a time when he is engaging in high-stakes budget negotiations to avoid the combination of tax increases and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff.”

“I certainly wouldn’t call it welcome,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said of the scandal.

Both Allen and the official due to replace him in Afghanistan, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before they can take up their new posts.

Lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee said they would go ahead with a confirmation hearing for Dunford on Thursday. Allen’s appearance was canceled.

Allen had just submitted recommendations on what role the United States should play in Afghanistan after most American combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

FBI agents searched Broadwell’s Charlotte, North Carolina, home late on Monday in a sign that the case involving Petraeus was not fully closed.

U.S. officials have said recently that their investigation was largely complete and that prosecutors had determined it was unlikely they would bring charges in that case, which started when Kelley contacted an FBI agent in Tampa.

That FBI agent, who has not been identified, came under scrutiny himself after it was discovered he had sent shirtless photographs of himself to Kelley “long before” this investigation, a law enforcement official told Reuters.

The agent, who alerted an FBI cyber squad to the Broadwell case, apparently became frustrated at the pace of the investigation and complained to a member of Congress about it, the official said.

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“I take responsibility” for what happened on September 11, Clinton said in an interview with CNN during a visit to Peru, adding that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden would not be responsible for specific security instructions for U.S. diplomatic facilities.

“I’m in charge of the State Department’s 60,000-plus people all over the world,” Clinton said.

“The president and the vice president wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision.”

Clinton’s comments followed stepped-up criticism of the Obama administration over the Benghazi attack, which Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney has sought to use to dent Obama’s foreign policy credibility before the November 6 election.

Republicans in particular have focused on the Obama administration’s shifting explanations for the attack, which Clinton said in two separate television interviews on Monday were the result of “the fog of war.”

“Remember, this was an attack that went on for hours,” Clinton told Fox News. “There had to be a lot of sorting out. … Everyone said, here’s what we know, subject to change.”

The administration initially attributed the violence to protests over an anti-Islam film and said it was not premeditated. Obama and other officials have since said the incident was a terrorist attack.

“POLITICAL GOTCHA”

The Benghazi assault, and the Obama administration’s response, has become a contentious election issue and Clinton’s comments came a day before the second presidential debate.

“What I want to avoid is some kind of political ‘gotcha’ or blame game going on,” Clinton told CNN.

“I know that we’re very close to an election. I want to just take a step back here and say from my own experience, we are at our best as Americans when we pull together. I’ve done that with Democratic presidents and Republican presidents.”

Romney has accused the administration of not providing adequate security to American diplomats and misrepresenting the nature of the attack, which resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Romney’s criticisms have sought to undercut the foreign policy record of Obama, who has been praised for the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the withdrawal of troops from unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Those attacks sharpened after last week’s vice presidential debate, when Vice President Joe Biden said “we did not know” of requests by U.S. diplomats on the ground in Libya for more security – a statement that contradicted testimony given two days earlier by State Department officials at a congressional hearing.

Clinton told the networks that Obama and Biden had not been involved in security decisions related to the consulate.

“The decisions about security are made by security professionals. But we’re going to review everything to be sure we’re doing what needs to be done in an increasingly risky environment,” Clinton said.

Congress has increased pressure on the State Department to release information about the attack. Obama and Clinton have both vowed a full investigation.

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“I hope he’s in hell with Hitler,” said Kathy Tedeschi, whose first husband, Bill Daniels, was among the 270 people killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. “I just can’t stop crying, I am so thrilled.”

“I am sure [Gaddafi] was the one who pushed to have this done, the bombing,” said Tedeschi, 62, whose three children were aged 10, 7 and 2 when their father was killed.

Bob Monetti, whose son Richard, 20, was killed in the Lockerbie bombing said: “The world is a much better place without Gaddafi. I am way past vengeance.”

The Pan Am airliner exploded as it flew to New York from London on Dec. 21, 1988. All 259 people aboard the aircraft were killed, and 11 others on the ground in Lockerbie also died from falling wreckage.

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Initially, fighters in camouflage garb flashed victory signs, fired their weapons into the air and danced as news spread that Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte had fallen. The celebrations, televised by international broadcasters, reached a crescendo with the announcement that Gaddafi had died. Men toted their children on their shoulders as groups of civilians formed swirling circles to dance.

“This is the happiest moment of my life,” said Ibrahim Suleiman, a 22-year-old driver in the city of Benghazi. “When I heard the news on television, I didn’t believe it; I ran off to the streets and I started jumping up and down.”

In Sirte, cries of “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is Great,” rang out. In Tripoli, once Gaddafi’s seat of power, children and ululating women took to the streets to celebrate alongside men. Some held photos of dead loved ones.

In scenes similar to those that played out in Egypt after President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February, Libyans — waving the tri-color flags that have becomes a symbol of their revolution — chanted: “Raise your head up high; you’re a free Libyan.” Others yelled: “The blood of martyrs will not go in vain.”

Analysis

What’s next for Libya?

The death of Muammar Gaddafi will be regarded as a victory for the Libyan people, NATO and democracy. But euphoria at the demise of a dictator should not disguise the problems faced by the new Libyan government in cementing peace, rebuilding and implementing good governance in the north African nation, analysts said.

Analysts stressed the National Transitional Council, which led resistance to Gaddafi, had won the war but would need to act quickly and decisively to take advantage of the peace.

Tribal differences, disputes between militia leaders and the expected involvement of exile groups would complicate the task.

“The real battle begins now to rein in the [rebels] and integrate them under the legal umbrella of the state in one of its various bureaucracies, army or police,” said Larbi Sadiki, expert on North African politics at Exeter University.

Obama warns other leaders

President Barack Obama hailed Muammar Gaddafi’s death as a warning to authoritarian leaders across the Middle East that iron-fisted rule “inevitably comes to an end” and as vindication for his cautious U.S. strategy on Libya. reuters

So who pulled the trigger?

The exact circum-stances of Gaddafi’s demise are still unclear.

In a video filmed by a bystander, Gaddafi is shown being dragged off a truck and pulled to the ground by his hair. “Keep him alive,” someone shouts. Gunshots then ring out. The camera veers off.

But Libya’s ruling body said Gaddafi was killed when a gunfight broke out after his capture between supporters and rebels. It said no order had been given to kill him.

Thousands are still missing
Dead bodies are being found regularly in mass graves, hospitals and other sites in Libya, including on roadsides, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. The agency said that thousands of families were waiting to find out what had happened to missing loved ones.

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“This is the first case where the ICC has shown real clout, because its indictment is backed up by Interpol,” Mo Sacirbey, a lawyer and former foreign minister of Bosnia, tells Metro. “President al-Bashir of Sudan has been indicted, too — but he’s still at large because there’s no Interpol involvement.”

Cross-examination by international prosecutors is a humiliating prospect for Gaddafi. But it may be his best option. Other leaders, including Italy’s Benito Mussolini and Liberia’s Samuel Doe, were simply killed upon capture.

“You never know what might happen while Gaddafi is being captured,” notes Mariam Elhadri with Lawyers for Justice in Libya.

Dictators in the docks present a juicy spectacle: Consider former Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic, who has alternatively boycotted his trial and declared it illegal. But are international war crimes tribunals counterproductive? Once a war criminal is indicted, he no longer has incentive to improve.

“In the year 2011, it’s implausible to argue that a leader responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity … can negotiate his or her own freedom from justice and live happily ever after. Today the rule of law actually means something when it comes to atrocity crimes,” notes David Scheffer, former President Bill Clinton’s ambassador for war crimes issues, who helped create the war crimes tribunals in the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Cambodia.

And, says Sacirbey, Gaddafi’s actions show that war criminals don’t change. “The international community thought it had reformed him,” he notes. “But once you’ve committed war crimes, you don’t stop. That’s why Gaddafi has reverted back to his old ways.”

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As the hunt for Gaddafi himself goes on, Libyan officials accused Algeria of an act of aggression for giving refuge to his fleeing wife and three of his children, as well as, it turned out, to a new granddaughter, born yesterday.

“By Saturday, if there are no peaceful indications for implementing this, we will decide this matter militarily,” said Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of Libya’s interim council.
 
Gaddafi’s whereabouts have been unknown since his foes seized his Tripoli compound on Aug. 23, ending his 42-year rule after a six-month revolt backed by NATO.

An spokesman for the anti-Gaddafi National Transitional Council said it would seek to extradite Gaddafi’s relatives from Algeria.

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Usually only one King Pin is targeted, but it can take a lot of balls to knock him down. And yet, angry mobs there are rolling strike after strike in the name of freedom and democracy.

It is a triumph for the White House, which was savaged for playing it so safe on engagement that a gutter ball seemed certain. It is inspiring for many young Americans who enjoy a Facebook-Koolaid kinship with young folks the world over, especially when it comes to pushing the Old Guard off to the nursing home or a war crimes trial.

But the pin-setting machine is whirring even as the protestors are posting their victorious profile pics, and you can bet your league shirt new King Pins are preparing to take a stand. Why?

Many of these countries have one key industry and are wracked by joblessness. That equation has always made it easy for tyrants to arise: Control that one resource, and you control the wealth and power of the nation.

The protestors seem to lack any clear strategy for what they will do with their newfound power. Sure, they’ll hold elections — but absent rapid economic improvements, this too can leave the door wide open for new dictators to hijack their revolutions.

And lastly, women still have limited influence and rights in many of these communities. Here is a simple test for whether a country can be truly Democratic. If women are relegated primarily to child-bearing and family-caring, it is usually a sign of an economy and health system that can’t survive without half the population in this role. And when that many people are forced to respect such an imposed foul line, tyrants know that much of their work is already done.

I’m not saying there is no cause for celebration. What I am saying is that even though some of the King Pins are gone, the circumstances that brought them to the front of the pin set remain; and in a long tournament, even a string of strikes does not necessarily take the trophy.

– CNN’s Tom Foreman is a regular on “AC360°”/ www.ac360.com and “The Situation Room.”

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Rumors of Gaddafi or his sons being cornered, even sighted, swirled among excitable rebel fighters engaged in heavy machine-gun and rocket exchanges. But two days after his compound was overrun, hopes of a swift end to six months of war were still being frustrated by fierce rearguard actions.

Western powers demanded Gaddafi’s surrender and worked to release frozen Libyan state funds, hoping to ease hardships and start reconstruction in the oil-rich state. But with loyalists holding out in the capital, in Gaddafi’s coastal home city and deep in the inland desert, violence could go on for some time and test the ability of the government-in-waiting to keep order.

Though his enemies believe Gaddafi, 69, is still in the capital, they fear he could flee by long-prepared escape routes, using tunnels and bunkers, to rally an insurgency.

Gaddafi’s opponents fear that he may rally an insurgency, as did Saddam Hussein in Iraq, should he remain at large and, perhaps, in control of funds salted away for such a purpose.

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Some interesting finds have come out of Gaddafi’s compound, but none as
odd as a photo album filled with pictures of the former Secretary of
State. Take a look at the quality of this scrapbook! Plenty of lazy
Sunday afternoons went into this!

Gaddafi did meet Rice in Tripoli in 2008 when he was just getting back on the good side of the international community.

In a TV interview with al-Jazeera in 2007, Gaddafi gushed, “I support my darling black African woman. I admire and am
very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab
leaders … Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. … I love her very much. I admire
her and I’m proud of her because she’s a black woman of African origin.”

And somewhere in front of a television screen, Condoleeza Rice was blushing.

Creepy crush? Or cutest couple ever?

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A day after rebel forces overran his Tripoli headquarters and trashed symbols of his 42-year rule, scattered pockets of loyalist diehards kept the irregular fighters at bay as they hunted Gaddafi and his sons. Rebels also reported fighting deep in the desert and a standoff around Gaddafi’s tribal home town.

In Tripoli, rockets and gunfire kept 2 million civilians indoors. Most were anxious but hopeful the war would soon end — and with it, worsening shortages of food, water and medical supplies for hundreds of wounded and for the sick.

“Gaddafi’s forces and his accomplices will not stop resisting until Gaddafi is caught or killed,” said Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebels’ National Council, who offered amnesty to any of his entourage who killed the fallen strongman and announced a reward worth over $1 million for his capture.

“The end will only come when he’s captured, dead or alive,” Abdel Jalil said in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Hunt takes rebels in search of tunnels

When Libyan rebels storm­ed Muammar Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli, he was nowhere to be found. The hunt for the Libyan dictator may now take them underground.

Suspecting it might come to this, Gaddafi taunted North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies three months ago, saying in a May 13 speech: “I live in a place they cannot reach and where you cannot kill me.”

Libyans have grown up on tales of an intricate network of air-conditioned 1970s-era secret passages, which were fortified in the aftermath of the 1986 U.S. bombing raid on Tripoli to provide an increasingly paranoid Gaddafi with a safe way out, according to Karim Mezran, a Libyan exile and a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy.
“Nobody visited these underground bunkers, but the information we got is that he has some tunnels leading from Bab al-Aziziyah to some other places like the airport and even Martyrs Square,” Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya’s former deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters yesterday. BLOOMBERG

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Gaddafi said his withdrawal from his Bab al-Aziziya headquarters in the heart of the capital was a tactical move after it had been hit by 64 NATO air strikes and he vowed “martyrdom” or victory in his fight against the alliance.

As night fell yesterday after a day in which rebels overran Tripoli, meeting little resistance with few casualties, heavy fighting was reported in a southern desert city, Sabha, that rebels forecast would be Gaddafi loyalists’ last redoubt.

Forces loyal to Gaddafi were shelling the towns of Zuara and Ajelat west of Tripoli, Al-Arabiya television reported.

In Tripoli itself, Reuters correspondents said there still appeared to be some hostile fire around the city center as darkness descended and looting broke out.

Al-Arabiya quoted a witness as saying that loyalist forces had fired dozens of Grad missiles at the city.

The continued shooting suggested the six-month popular insurgency against Gaddafi had not completely triumphed yet.

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World leaders urged Gaddafi, 69, to surrender to prevent more bloodshed and appealed for an orderly transition of power, as the 6-month-old battle for control of the oil-producing North African nation appeared to enter its final stages.

Rebels say they are now in control of most of Tripoli, a sprawling coastal city of 2 million people on the Mediterranean Sea, but it was not clear whether Gaddafi was still in the Libyan capital.

Rebels swept into Tripoli two days ago in tandem with an uprising within the city. Reuters reporters saw firefights and clashes with heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, as rebels tried to flush out snipers and pockets of resistance.

Hundreds seem to have been killed or wounded since Saturday. But Gaddafi tanks and sharpshooters appeared to hold only small areas, mainly around Gaddafi’s heavily fortified Bab al-Aziziyah compound in central Tripoli.

Civilians, who had mobbed the streets Sunday to cheer the end of dictatorship, stayed indoors as machine gun fire and explosions punctuated some of the heaviest fighting of the Arab Spring uprisings that have been reshaping the Middle East.

President Barack Obama, saying the conflict was not over yet, cautioned rebels against exacting revenge for Gaddafi’s brutal rule. “True justice will not come from reprisals and violence,” he said.

Gaddafi forces fire rockets

Libyan government forces fired three Scud-type missiles yesterday from the area of Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown, toward the coastal city of Misrata in central Libya, NATO said.

Initial reports showed the rockets landed most likely at sea or on the shore, and NATO was not aware of any casualties or damage.

“We confirm reports concerning the firing of three surface-to-surface missiles on Monday evening,” a NATO official said.

Libya’s next phase carries risks for US

President Barack Obama was a cautious leader in the drive to topple Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and could face even greater risks as Libya embarks on a messy transition to a post-Gaddafi era.

But the United States — despite deep economic problems and unpopular and costly military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan — may yet find itself saddled with an important role in Libya’s political reconstruction.

As rebel forces surged into Tripoli and Gaddafi became a hunted man, Obama acknowledged the conflict had reached a “tipping point,” but emphasized that what comes next is up to the Libyans.

“This much is clear: the Gaddafi regime is coming to an end, and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people,” Obama said in a statement yesterday. He pledged the United States would work with the rebels and its international allies to support a peaceful transition to democracy.

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Here are ten tweets from inside Libya and others around the world as the reign of Muammar Gaddafi came to an end.

– @BintLibya: Seriously where does Mohammed #Gaddafi think he’s going to go?

– @lindseyhilsum: Witnessed 10-11 men being marched thru National Oil Co compound- hands on heads. Ukrainian mercenaries, according to Rebel commander.

– @ChangeinLibya: Just managed to call my grandmother. Told me she’s safe but earlier saw 2 tanks exit #BabAlAziziya and shell BenAshour w/her own eyes

– @simmjazeera: Just arrived in Tripoli after long journey from Misrata — along with countless opp fighters. Ecstatic welcome in every town on coastal rd.

– @walidshaari: Rise like a Tunisian. Walk like an Egyptian. Fight like a Libyan, Persist like a Syrian

– @mchancecnn: Very dark, very quiet at the #Rixos some gunshots cracking outside. We raided the hotel larder and got tons of cheese!
 
– @OnlyOneLibya: I hope the Libyan ppl will realize this is about Libya not Gaddafi. He has fallen,we now need to start difficult process of healing+building

– @wheelertweets: 23 yr old Misrata FF next to me at Ramadan breakfast last night at a Tunis hospital said he was studying botany. Said Gaddafi hates plants.

– @LibyanMadDog: I spoke to my family In #tripoli and we were all in tears of happiness. This is the happiest day of my life

– @Tripoli_latest: Prisoners in #Tripoli are being released by prison guards who are asking for giveness, and being told to run #MermaidDawn

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“I am afraid if we don’t act, they will burn Tripoli,” he said in an audio address broadcast on state television. “There will be no more water, food, electricity or freedom.”

Thousands of rebel fighters 15 miles west of Tripoli were moving toward the capital yesterday evening. As they advanced, they took control of a barracks belonging to the Khamis brigade, an elite security unit commanded by one of Gaddafi’s sons, Khamis.

In a coordinated revolt that rebel cells had been secretly preparing for months, shooting started on Saturday night across Tripoli, moments after Muslim clerics, using the loudspeakers on mosque minarets, called people on to the streets.

The fighting inside Tripoli, combined with rebel advances, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six-month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the “Arab Spring” uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.

In Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city where the anti-Gaddafi revolt started and where the rebels have their main stronghold, a senior official said everything was going according to plan.

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“I am afraid if we don’t act, they will burn Tripoli,” he said in an audio address broadcast on state television. “There will be no more water, food, electricity or freedom.”

Thousands of rebel fighters 25 km (15 miles) west of Tripoli were moving toward the capital on Sunday evening. As they advanced, they took control of a barracks belonging to the Khamis brigade, an elite security unit commanded by one of Gaddafi’s sons, Khamis.

In a coordinated revolt that rebel cells had been secretly preparing for months, shooting started on Saturday night across Tripoli, moments after Muslim clerics, using the loudspeakers on mosque minarets, called people on to the streets.

Gaddafi, in his second audio broadcast in 24 hours, dismissed the rebels as rats.

“I am giving the order to open the weapons stockpiles,” Gaddafi said. “I call on all Libyans to join this fight. Those who are afraid, give your weapons to your mothers or sisters.

“Go out, I am with you until the end. I am in Tripoli. We will…win.”

The fighting inside Tripoli, combined with rebel advances to the outskirts of the city, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the “Arab Spring” uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.

“Gaddafi’s chances for a safe exit are diminishing by the hour,” said Ashour Shamis, a Libyan opposition activist and editor based in Britain.

But Gaddafi’s fall, after four decades in power, is far from certain. His security forces did not buckle, and the city is much bigger than anything the mostly amateur anti-Gaddafi fighters, with their scavenged weapons and mismatched uniforms, have ever tackled.

If the Libyan leader is forced from power, there are question marks over whether the opposition can restore stability in this oil exporting country. The rebels’ own ranks have been wracked by disputes and rivalry.

REVOLT PREMATURE?

Rebels said after a night of heavy fighting, they controlled a handful of city neighborhoods. Whether they hold on could depend on the speed with which the other rebels reach Tripoli.

“The rebels may have risen too early in Tripoli and the result could be a lot of messy fighting,” said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya. “The regime may not have collapsed in the city to quite the extent they think it has.”

But the rebel advance toward the city was rapid, and there was no sign of fierce resistance from Gaddafi’s security forces. In the past 48 hours, the rebels west of Tripoli have advanced about 25 km, halving the distance between them and the capital.

Government forces put up a brief fight at the village of Al-Maya, leaving behind a burned-out tank, and some cars that had been torched. “I am very happy,” said one resident.

The anti-Gaddafi fighters paused long enough to daub some graffiti on walls in the village. One read “We are here and we are fighting Gaddafi,” another, “God is great.” They then moved on toward Tripoli.

In Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city where the anti-Gaddafi revolt started and where the rebels have their main stronghold, a senior official said everything was going according to plan.

“Our revolutionaries are controlling several neighborhoods and others are coming in from outside the city to join their brothers at this time,” Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the rebel National Transition Council, told Reuters.

A spokesman for Gaddafi, in a briefing for foreign reporters, underlined the message of defiance.

The armed units defending Tripoli from the rebels “wholeheartedly believe that if this city is captured the blood will run everywhere so they may as well fight to the end,” said the spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim.

“We hold Mr Obama, Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy morally responsible for every single unnecessary death that takes place in this country,” he said, referring to the leaders of the United States, Britain and France.

SNIPERS ON ROOFTOPS

A diplomatic source in Paris, where the government has closely backed the rebels, said underground rebel cells in the capital had been following detailed plans drawn up months ago and had been waiting for a signal to act.

That signal was “iftar” — the moment when Muslims observing the holy months of Ramadan break their daily fast. It was at this moment that imams started broadcasting their message from the mosques, residents said.

But the overnight fighting inside the city, while fierce, was not decisive. Rebels said they controlled all or parts of the Tajourah, Fashloom and Souk al-Jumaa neighborhoods, yet there was no city-wide rebellion.

In Tripoli on Sunday, the two sides appeared to be jockeying for control of roof terraces to use as firing positions, possibly in preparation for a new burst of fighting after dark.

A rebel activist in the city said pro-Gaddafi forces had put snipers on the rooftops of buildings around Bab al-Aziziyah, Gaddafi’s compound, and on the top of a nearby water tower.

As he spoke, single gunshots could be heard in the background, at intervals of a few seconds.

“Gaddafi’s forces are getting reinforcements to comb the capital,” said the activist, who spoke by telephone to a Reuters reporter outside Libya.

“Residents are crying, seeking help. One resident was martyred, many were wounded,” he said. It was not immediately possible to verify his account independently.

State television flashed up a message on the screen urging residents not to allow rebel gunmen to hide on their rooftops.

“Agents and al Qaeda members are trying to destabilize and sabotage the city. You should prevent them from exploiting your houses and buildings, confront them and cooperate with counter-terrorism units, to capture them,” it said.

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The clashes renewed opposition fears that Gaddafi’s agents had infiltrated the area, days after the mysterious killing of the rebel military commander.

The assassination of Gen. Abdel Fattah Younes, apparently by gunmen on his own side, has hurt the opposition just as it was winning broader international recognition and making gains against Gaddafi’s forces in the western mountains and elsewhere. reuters

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Frattini told reporters in Tuscany that he believed what he had been told by Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the Catholic bishop in Tripoli, that "Gaddafi was most probably outside Tripoli and probably even wounded" by NATO airstrikes.

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Russian and South African delegates sharply criticized the NATO-led operations to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly zone and suggested the ICC should not limit its investigation to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s government.

The U.N. Security Council referred the Libyan violence to the ICC in February. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is investigating Gaddafi, some of his sons and aides over what he called a “pre-determined plan” to attack protesters.

Moreno-Ocampo, addressing the U.N. Security Council about the progress of his investigation, said he will request three arrest warrants within weeks for alleged crimes against humanity committed in Libya since Feb. 15.

“Crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Libya, attacking unarmed civilians including killings and persecutions in many cities across Libya,” Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement.

He urged states to prepare for arrests should ICC judges decide to issue warrants, stressing “now is the time to start planning on how to implement possible arrest warrants.”

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Brooklyn-based photojournalist Tim Hetherington was killed in the mortar attack and New York-born Getty photographer Chris Hondros died hours after being hit with shrapnel, The New York Times reported.

Panos Pictures, Hetherington’s employer, confirmed yesterday that his family had been notified after the group was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Both Hetherington and Hondros, known for cultivating an international body of work covering conflict, were fatally wounded in Misrata, a Libyan city under siege. Two other photographers were wounded, The New York Times reported.

Hetherington was a well-known photographer most recently highlighted for “Restrepo,” the Academy Award-nominated documentary about a war-torn valley in Afghanistan.

“This was a good man with so much to give,” photographer James Whitlow Delano told Metro.

The death of Hondros was reported last night by a New York Times reporter near the triage center where the photographers were taken.

“Chris made sacrifices in his own life to bring the hardships of war into the public eye, and that dedication created award-winning photographs that shaped the way people viewed the world,” New York Times photographer and colleague Tyler Hicks wrote.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter at @AlisonatMetro.

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NATO said it had hit 11 tanks outside Ajdabiyah, which Gaddafi’s troops had earlier threatened to overrun, and 14 more on the outskirts of Misrata, a lone rebel bastion in western Libya which has been under siege for six weeks.

A Reuters reporter saw six burning hulks surrounded by 15 charred and dismembered bodies in two sites 1,000 feet apart on Ajdabiyah’s western approaches.

“NATO has to do this to help us every single day. That is the only way we are going to win this war,” said 25-year-old rebel Tarek Obeidy.

The rebels, who have long complained about what they see as an ineffective NATO response to government attacks, applauded a more muscular approach over the weekend.

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With Libya in chaos as Gaddafi’s troops battle rebels, an official in neighboring Algeria said al Qaeda was exploiting the conflict to acquire weapons — including surface-to-air missiles — and smuggle them to a stronghold in northern Mali.

“You have to visit Misrata to see the massacre by Gaddafi,” said Omar Boubaker, a 40-year-old engineer with a bullet wound to the leg, “Corpses are in the street. Hospitals are overflowing.”

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Former Libyan foreign minister Koussa fled to Britain from war-torn Libya on Wednesday in a public relations coup for Western governments who are backing rebel attempts to oust Gaddafi from power.

Families of some of the 270 people — including 190 Americans — who died when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 have demanded that Koussa — a former Libyan spy chief — should be handed to Scottish investigators.

Scottish police have asked to quiz Koussa, who has been in contact with British officials in an undisclosed location. Koussa is believed to have played a key role in the release of Megrahi, who is still alive.

Scotland’s justice minister Kenny MacAskill said the interview could potentially lead to further prosecutions. “It’s never been suggested by anybody that the Lockerbie bombing was carried out by one man alone,” MacAskill said.

The British government has said no deal is on the table for anyone from Gaddafi’s regime. Britain’s Conservative-led government has condemned Megrahi’s release and criticized the previous Labour administration for restoring ties with Libya in return for Gaddafi ending his pursuit of banned weapons.

‘Back and forth’ war in Libya

BREGA, Libya – Warplanes flew over Brega yesterday as rebels fought troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi for control of the east Libyan oil town, rebel fighters said.

Near the eastern gate of Brega, a sparsely populated settlement spread over more than 15 miles, aircraft and the thud of explosions and machinegun fire could be heard.

The fighting in Brega has gone on for four days, with the rebels holding their ground after beating a chaotic retreat from near Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte.

Describing the battle in Brega, rebel fighter Mahdi Idriss said: “It is still back and forth.”

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It had taken more than five days of allied bombardment to destroy government tanks and artillery in the strategic town of Ajdabiyah before rebels rushed in and chased Gaddafi’s troops 200 miles west in a two-day dash.

Two days later the rebels have been pushed back to close to where they started.

The Libyan army first ambushed the chaotic caravan of volunteers, supporters and bystanders outside Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte, then outflanked them through the desert, a maneuver requiring the sort of discipline the rag-tag rebels lack.

The towns of Nawfaliyah, Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf fell in quick succession to the lightning government counterstrike. Rebels showed no signs of trying to hold on to the next town, Brega, but carried on toward Ajdabiyah.

In town after town, Gaddafi force’s have unleashed a fierce bombardment from tanks, artillery and truck-launched Grad rockets which has forced rebels to swiftly flee.

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A conference of 40 governments and international bodies agreed to press on with a NATO-led aerial bombardment of Libyan forces until Gaddafi complied with a U.N. resolution to end violence against civilians.

It also set up a contact group comprising 20 countries and organizations, including Arab states, the African Union and the Arab League, to coordinate international support for an orderly transition to democracy in Libya.

“All of us must continue to increase the pressure on and deepen the isolation of the Gaddafi regime through other means as well,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after the London talks finished.

“This includes a unified front of political and diplomatic pressure that makes clear to Gaddafi that he must go.”

The United States, Britain and Qatar suggested that Gaddafi and his family could be allowed to go into exile if they took up the offer quickly to end six weeks of bloodshed.

Washington and Paris also raised the possibility of arming the rebels, although both stressed no decision had been reached.

Details fuzzy on Obama’s policies

President Barack Obama may have seized the initiative with his lofty defense of military action in Libya but he has left more questions than answers about his emerging “Obama doctrine” and what it means for other crises in the Middle East.

Embedded in Obama’s televised response to critics of his Libya policy Monday night was an attempt to set forth his rationale for intervening militarily in some conflicts but not in others.

Obama used his speech to outline part of a broader Middle East strategy that aides have been crafting for weeks to try to counter complaints that his administration has struggled to keep pace with turmoil sweeping the Arab world.

But he was short on specifics and failed to even mention Yemen, Syria or Bahrain, the latest hot spots where popular revolts threatening autocratic rulers could have major implications for U.S. policy.

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In a nationally televised address, Obama — accused by many lawmakers of failing to explain the U.S. role in the Western air campaign against Gaddafi’s loyalists — made the case for his decision to intervene militarily in the Libya conflict.

But he also underscored the limits of U.S. military action as he sought to counter criticism that he lacked clear objectives and a credible exit strategy in the conflict.

“I can report that we have stopped Gaddafi’s deadly advance,” Obama said, 10 days after ordering U.S. participation in Western-led air strikes.

“We will deny the regime arms, cut off its supply of cash, assist the opposition and work with other nations to hasten the day when Gaddafi leaves power,” Obama said.

But he added that “it may not happen overnight” and acknowledged that Gaddafi may be able to cling to power. “Broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake,” he said.

Obama spoke on the eve of a 35-nation conference in London to tackle the crisis in the North African oil-exporting country and weigh political options for ending Gaddafi’s 41-year rule.

Obama’s challenge was to define the limited purpose and scope of the U.S. mission in Libya for Americans preoccupied with domestic economic concerns and weary of costly wars in two other Muslim countries, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rebels push back Gaddafi forces

Rebels advanced west toward the birthplace Muammar Gaddafi on Monday, firing mortars and heavy machineguns in sporadic clashes with loyalist forces.

Emboldened by air strikes against Gaddafi’s troops, rebels took the town of Nawfaliyah and moved toward Sirte, Gaddafi’s home town and an important military base, in the sixth week of an uprising against his 41-year rule.

As rebels pressed forward in the east, Gaddafi’s troops were patrolling an area near the center of Misrata after shelling the previously rebel-controlled western city for days. Arab news networks reported Western air strikes in the west of Tripoli.

The government in Tripoli said it had “liberated” Misrata from rebels and declared a ceasefire there.

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