After two days of meetings, NATO leaders decided this week that they would not yet halt their air campaign in Libya, even though Moammar Gadhafi is no longer in power and his remaining forces are cornered. Gadhafi, speaking publicly Thursday for the first time in weeks via an audio message, called the country's new leaders illegitimate, and urged Libyans to rise up against them. "There is eagerness to end the mission," one NATO diplomat tells The New York Times, "but also concern that we don't end it too soon and give inspiration to the pro-Gadhafi forces." Is continued bombing an unnecessary mistake?
The bombing is doing more harm than good now: NATO overstepped its mandate by launching airstrikes against Gadhafi in the first place, says Mike McNally at Pajamas Media. But even if you believe NATO's air war was "legally and morally justified," it's hard to argue that the battered loyalists besieged in Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte still "present an imminent threat" to civilians in the rest of the country. At this point, the bombing accomplishes nothing — except worsening an already devastating humanitarian crisis.
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