A mere fifteen days, and already I can type a virtual retrospect on the Libyan Civil War of 2011! As the Guardian reports, and I worried (while I did not quite predict a quagmire in my last post, I did bemoan our decision to intervene when Col. Gaddafi was "so close!" to bustin' up those rebels; see ¶7), the war is officially "descending into stalemate":

Whatever the outcome, what seems most unlikely is that the rebels' newly visible generals will be leading their troops into Tripoli any time in the near future.

NATO hacks generally and President Obama in particular are surprisingly frank about their decision to slow down the bombing campaign, and the latter has indeed stuck to his vow not to send in ground troops. But, of course, that is because my alternative prediction (that we would draw down irresponsibly) has come to pass. Does NATO really think their sorties will save lives at the end of the day? The fight mayn't be as intense, but everything looks set for a prolonged and still bloodier conflict.

I will be brief, but some emendations are due. Firstly, an apology--to Bad Guy Gaddafi!! To my unqualified amazement, one of the "comically obvious lies" for which I criticized him two weeks ago had a kernel of truth: some of the Libyan rebels are Islamist veterans of the Iraq War! The rebel officer who spoke with the Telegraph even fought against the coalition in Afghanistan before being captured in 2002 and, typically, being released by the US to Libya in 2008! And see this story about additional mujahedeen "rebels" here. Dictator's intuition, I guess. On the other hand, shame on Secretary of State Clinton! She admits she doesn't even understand who these rebels are--we're still "getting to know" them. How comforting.

As a Catholic, I am glad that Bishop Martinelli, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli, is also critical of military intervention. Understandably, he sounds rather overwhelmed, but evidently thinks our bombing campaign isn't speeding the peace. As a rightist, I am happy that, on the first day of the allied attack, the British National Party's Nick Griffin MEP declared the campaign "madness, utter madness." Expressing the official BNP position, he lambastes PM Cameron's hawkish opportunism. Griffin, like Saif al-Islam whom I quoted earlier, says

The stench of hypocrisy is stomach-churning. Western politicians, including Blair and the EU’s Herman Van Rompuy, were pictured literally hugging Gaddafi not so long ago. Now they plan to put him on trial and execute him like Saddam Hussein.

and straightforwardly positions the BNP as the UK's "Peace Party". Lucky Britain; we don't have one of those.

*************

The SGA shall soon hold elections for the execs and senate to succeed yours truly and his classmen. Hence, the time is ripe for a tribute/roast to one of my closest friends, VP for Academic Affairs and Buckleyite partner-in-crime John Guinan (a better politician than those ridiculed above!) He had long requested a sonnet from me, so a few weeks ago I wrote him

Sonnet CLI- John Guinan

It was a tie black night when you met John,
His collar open for the fastening.
A friend of his, I said your opening.
"Ah! Have you read Emmanuel d'Alzon?"
He questioned, eyes cast over you. "So good.
Of all the Catholic Intellectual
Tradition, he's the best--a frank, noble
Intolerance is good, he says. Who would
Be bold enough to say these things today?"
I answered. He said, "Just be tactful too.
Do you subscribe to National Review?
The mag is not so blunt, and that's okay.
See Leslie's smart, but can sound crazy too.
You're not ridiculous like him, are you?

Even if it is as much about me as him, he loved it, as did the audience at the last d'Alzon poetry event.