"Tut, Tut, It Looks Like Rain..."

or, Post 2125.

Two Yahoo headlines, at the top of today's news list:

Libyan rebels retreat / Diplomats agree that Gadhafi must go

And here's the lede to that first story:
Libyan rebels retreating after Gadhafi onslaught
By RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press Ryan Lucas, Associated Press – Tue Mar 29, 11:54 am ET

RAS LANOUF, Libya – Libyan government tanks and rockets pounded rebel forces into a panicked full retreat Tuesday after an hourslong, back-and-forth battle that highlighted the superior might of Moammar Gadhafi's forces, even hobbled by international airstrikes.

No such strikes were launched during the fighting in Bin Jawwad, where rebels attempting to march on Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte ended up turning around and fleeing east under overcast skies. Some fleeing rebels shouted, "Sarkozy, where are you?" — a reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the strongest supporters of international airstrikes.

World leaders in London, meanwhile, debated how far they should go to force an end to Gadhafi's 41-year autocratic rule. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the world must speak with a single voice to ensure that the North African country "belongs not to a dictator, but to its people."

Rockets and tank fire sent Libya's rebels in a panicked scramble away from the front lines. The opposition was able to bring up truck-mounted rocket launchers of their own and return fire, but they went into full retreat after government shelling resumed.

Ah, the arrogance of the Big People meeting in their cozy London confines...




ADDED: Now who could have forseen such negative possibilities? (Guess I should be grateful; post Iraq intervention, they called those of us who insisted on injecting a dose of reality into the pretty promises "unpatriotic".)

Not a natural-born pessimist here. Mostly the opposite, in practice. Just got a decent dose of common-sense still in me, how hard it is, in practice, to carry out the pretty promises of others sitting comfortable and willing to promise the moon.