It aint over till the fat lady sings.

It looked like the battle for Libya may finally be over as the resistance fighters of the Transitional National Council made momentous gains as they advanced into Tripoli.
With scenes of euphoric jubilation in cities across the country and dubious confirmation that Psycho Saif and his brother Saadi  had been captured it looked like game over for Mad Mo.
Ah but this is Libya and every thing may not be as it seems.  To borrow a quote from former U.S Defence secretary Rumsfeld "There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know."
The Gadaffi grip on power seems to be crumbling as a televised recording of the Colonel's voice ranting to the tribes to come to his rescue was the only semblance of resistance in the defense of the Capital.
His whereabouts are still unknown  as he called the rebels "traitors" and likened the situation in Libya to Baghdad .
It has become obvious that the T.N.C fighters have had considerable help in the last few months in order to break the stalemate. NATO played the role of the  air force and perhaps the navy. If there were not " boots " on the ground there definitely were sandals present to coordinate such a massive push with a hint of a mercenary if not a professional soldier core.
Have the tribes that supported Mad Mo up until last week just vanished? Have the core fighting forces given up or have they retreated to the South in order to regroup, securing the oil fields there before they fight back or as Saddam did in Kuwait set fire to the fields as a scorched  earth  policy?
Losing Tripoli may not be the end for Mad Mo who has a history for bizarre tactics and coming back from the brink and this is why the T.N.C has to act decisively in consolidating their victory.
So far their rhetoric sounds balanced and fair but after forty two years of totalitarian rule revenge is one of the human frailties that they have to reign in. Building up a pluralistic society , with laws that work will be a challenge .
The west have to learn from the mistakes of Iraq and advise them of the possibility  a long drawn out conflict as guerrilla warfare becomes a norm in the absence of clear leadership and rapid improvement in the life of the average Libyan.
It ain't over till the fat lady sings.  Next stop Damascus.