Jon Stewart nails it

I just want to know -- how can a comedian's political analysis be so much clearer than what you read and see elsewhere?

The Daily Show - America at Not-War - Obama's Pragmatic Foreign Policy Decisions
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

And look at this very helpful debate on Libya. Again, so much better than what passes for analysis elsewhere.

The Daily Show - Mansour O. El-Kikhia
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

I happen to believe it's right to intervene in Libya. But I've not worked backwards to the reasons why it's right.

From Missouri to Tripoli and back

In 25 hours.



B-2 Stealth Bomber returning to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. after missions to Libya.

My question is, why is the US military providing this video? Several answers come to mind. To show the enemy your capability. Recruiting. Others?

More here from the Defense Video & Imagery System.

What's with the Arab League?

What's with the on again - off again support by the Arab League for the UN's response to Gaddafi?

I asked two tweeters, and here are their replies:

@SultanAlQassemi What's going on with Arab League? #Libya
34 minutes ago
in reply to @uaeeconomist ↑

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
@uaeeconomist it's now a tool in the hands of Amr Moussa
34 minutes ago via web
__________

@Tripolitanian What Arab countries are going to join coalition? Do you agree with Arab League's concerns? #Libya
38 minutes ago
in reply to @uaeeconomist ↑

@Tripolitanian
Libyan
@uaeeconomist UAE&Qatar r in the coalition - Arab league's concerns were irresponsible, it's too early 2 tell if there were civ casualties
36 minutes ago via web
_________

This twitter thing is starting to make sense to me as a communications tool.

These answers help inform the read of this report in the Washington Post:

Arab League condemns broad bombing campaign in Libya

The Arab League secretary general, Amr Moussa, deplored the broad scope of the U.S.-European bombing campaign in Libya on Sunday and said he would call a new league meeting to reconsider Arab approval of the Western military intervention.

Moussa said the Arab League’s approval of a no-fly zone on March 12 was based on a desire to prevent Moammar Gaddafi’s air force from attacking civilians and was not designed to embrace the intense bombing and missile attacks—including on Tripoli, the capital, and on Libyan ground forces—that have filled Arab television screens for the last two days.

“What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone,” he said in a statement on the official Middle East News Agency. “And what we want is the protection of civilians and not the shelling of more civilians.”

Moussa’s declaration suggested some of the 22 Arab League members were taken aback by what they have seen and wanted to modify their approval lest they be perceived as accepting outright Western military intervention in Libya. Although the eccentric Gaddafi is widely looked down on in the Arab world, Middle Eastern leaders and their peoples traditionally have risen up in emotional protest at the first sign of Western intervention.

Concerns grow that Saif Gadaffi did not read the thesis written for him

Okay, the headline makes it sound like it has been proven that Saif did not write the doctoral thesis submitted to the London School of Economics in his name. But concerns are growing that it was ghost written. And of course his current behavior suggests that he does not subscribe to its content; one explanation could be that he has not read it.

His LSE advisors say, however, that he gave a good oral defense of the thesis. But that could be explained, too. He's not stupid, he's confident, he has an excellent command of English, and he's got the money to be prepped well for an oral exam, when the exam is the content of the thesis.

The Australian has a very good story on the ghost writing/plagiarism charge.

Professor David Held, director of the LSE's Centre for the Study of Global Governance, said he was aware of suggestions that a ghostwriter may have been used.

"After he handed in the thesis there was a rumour that he may not have been the sole author," he said. "I wrote straight away to his supervisor but there was no substantial evidence."

Lord Desai, an emeritus professor of economics at the LSE, said: "I read the thesis, I examined him with an examiner, he defended his thesis very, very thoroughly, he had nobody else present, and I don't think there's any reason to think he didn't do it himself."

In his thesis Mr Gaddafi acknowledges the help of Professor Joseph Nye, an eminent economist at Harvard University, for reading portions of the manuscript and providing advice. He also credits Monitor Group, which employs Sir Mark Allen, a former MI6 agent and a senior adviser to BP, for providing the empirical data for his work.

Charlotte Gerada, general secretary of the LSE's Students' Union, said: "Concerns were widely raised at the time but nothing was done. The LSE must now act to maintain credibility."

The Centre for the Study of Global Governance received £300,000 of the £1.5m donation from Libya the year after he was awarded his PhD.

There is a wiki devoted to identifying plagiarism in the thesis:
http://saifalislamgaddafithesis.wikia.com/wiki/Plagiarism

Our previous coverage of the thesis, including a link to the thesis itself, are here and here.

Sentence of the day

From a Wikileak cable dated Sunday, 23 August 2009:

Separately, the UK Ambassador categorically denied Saif al-Islam's claims that the UK agreed to Megrahi's return in exchange for business deals, and said the UK was reconsidering its representation at the 40th anniversary of Qadhafi's coup September 1.

Reconsidering?