Victory in Libya?

It's a bit premature to say that Muammar Qaddafi has fallen, and this war has gone on just long enough to make a person hesitate about declaring victory, but it seems as if Tripoli is in the process of being liberated. If it is true that Qaddafi is finally going, we will be able to mark this one down as a victory for NATO (a victory, of course, that also shown us some of the weaknesses of NATO, but more on that later); a victory for the Libyan people, many of whom possessed no serious fighting skills but very large hearts; a victory for the principle of humanitarian intervention (we'll never know if Benghazi would have been the scene of mass slaughter had NATO not intervened when it did, just as we'll never know if Saddam Hussein would have subjected Kurds and Marsh Arabs to another round of genocidal attacks, but we should be happy that now we don't have to know).

And one other thing: Now is a good time to remember the many Americans, and other innocents, killed by this awful regime. Their families should feel some satisfaction that justice may finally be finding the murderer of their loved ones.