by Zack Beauchamp
The National Transitional Council (NTC) rejected the U.N. offer to place peacekeepers in Libya. Juan Cole nods:
It is not clear that Libya will need any outside troops or police. One doesn’t remember outsiders supplying such personnel in the US in 1783 or France in 1789. But it is likely that the real help Libya needs is aid and the return to it of its own money. The UNSC has just authorized Britain to transfer $1.5 bn. to the new Libyan state from Qaddafi assets earlier frozen. Russia is for reasons known best to itself holding up similar transfers from France and Germany.
David Bosco worries about what happens if different factions inside the NTC have a divergence of opinions on UN peacekeepers. Reider Vissar looks at how the NTC's ideas about the new Libyan state are developing:
[T]he new transitional charter of the Libyan opposition does not tinker with the existing state structure in Libya in any way. The charter basically confirms the existing unitary arrangements including Tripoli’s status as the capital. True, there is reference to the flag of the monarchy area – which with its tripartite structure at least does have a federalist origin – but it is fair to say that during the past tumultuous months the old flag has come to signify general anti-Gadhafi sentiment rather than a specific pro-federal stance. Neither “federalism” nor “decentralisation” occurs in the text of the charter at all.
Democracy Digest rounds up views on whether these sorts of steps are moving Libya towards a durable democracy. Daniel Halper updates us on the latest vis-a-vis the fighting with Qaddafi forces and the search for the man himself.
The Dish 