KHA-BLOOEY! A tank belonging Moammar Khadafy’s forces is hit during an airstrike by coalition forces on a road south of the rebel-held city of Benghazi yesterday. (REUTERS)
Time to hide in the bunker, Moammar.
An allied airstrike brought the war home — literally — to Libyan lunatic Moammar Khadafy yesterday, when a missile smashed into an administrative office building only 165 feet from the Tripoli tent where he entertains guests.
The four-story building — which stood about 100 yards from the statue of a golden fist crushing an American plane — was flattened.
The attack was carried out by British forces, NBC News reported. The dictator’s compound was targeted for its military capability, CNN said.
A top Pentagon official insisted Khadafy himself is not on the allied bombing list. But that may change, said British Defense Secretary Liam Fox, who yesterday said assassinating Khadafy is a possible option, according to The Times of London.
The strike on the madman’s compound was one of many by US, British and French fighter jets and ships that destroyed Libyan air defenses and other military targets to enforce the UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over the entire country.
The waves of assaults — called Operation Odyssey Dawn — were also aimed at keeping Khadafy’s troops from the rebel capital of Benghazi.
In one attack, French jets bombed a convoy of 70 tanks and other armored vehicles about 12 miles south of Benghazi, killing an estimated 100 troops supposedly loyal to Khadafy.
Rebels reported that some of the drivers had been handcuffed to their steering wheels to prevent them from fleeing.
Elsewhere, Khadafy, who has ruled the north African nation with an iron fist for more than 40 years, continued the assault on his own people by shelling the rebel-held town of Misrata.
“There are so many casualties that we cannot count them,” said a spokesman for the opposition.
And nothing stopped Khadafy’s ranting. He called the allies “the new Nazis” and promised “a long-drawn war” in a rambling address on Libyan television.
“You have proven to the world that you are not civilized, that you are terrorists — animals attacking a safe nation that did nothing against you,” he said.
In the speech, he also claimed at least 48 civilians were killed in the attacks. The Pentagon said it knows of no civilian deaths.
One member of the anti-government forces told CNN that Khadafy had been hoarding the bodies of those killed in combat over the past week in order to claim they were civilians killed by airstrikes.
The specter of civilian blood being shed prompted the Arab League to reconsider its support for the no-fly zone.
“What we want is civilians’ protections, not shelling more civilians,” said Arab League chief Amr Moussa, an Egyptian.
The waves of attacks — by fighter jets, B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missile-launching submarines — were aimed at SA-5 surface-to-air missiles, radar installations and communication infrastructure.
“We judge these strikes to have been very effective in significantly degrading the regime’s air-defense capability,” said US Vice Adm. William Gortney. “We believe [Khadafy’s] forces are under significant stress and suffering from both isolation and a good deal of confusion.”
The confusion spread into the allied political realm, with ongoing debate on what the military’s endgame will be.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that “in a matter of days,” the United States will turn control of the mission to a coalition led by either the French and British or NATO.
The United States “will have a military role in the coalition,” Gates said, but added, it “will not have the preeminent role.”
France has said Khadafy must step down, while US Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was possible for Khadafy to remain in power.