Libya: Civil War?

Looks like the situation in Libya has turned into civil war. Madman Quadaffi and his supporters have too much to lose, wile the rebels will not accept the current regime staying in power. Though much of the military has defected or refused to participate, there are still elements of the military (not to mention foreign mercenaries) who are loyal to the madman.

Now, the rebels are marching from the west, towards the east. Whether they will actually be able to overturn the regime and its military power remains to be seen.

With the situation worsening, the US has ordered two of its amphibious assault ships to the coast off Libya. Now, let me be clear, these 40,000ton ships would be called "aircraft carriers" by any other navy in the world (we are the only navy which runs more than 1 assisted-launch aircraft carrier) but in the US navy we uses them as helicopter and marine assault ship (read: awesome hovercrafts) platforms. In addition, each carries 5 Harriers, which are pretty damn capable fighters.

Yeah, its pretty bad-ass. And it carries three of these:

And yes - they come out of the back of the carrier. And yes - the US military hired the guy from G.I. Joes to do the design.

My hope is that the US actually intervenes in this conflict and aids the rebels while then helping to build a stable regime in Libya. Unlikely? Yes. Because Obama has the foreign policy abilities of my old gym sock. Oh wait, I forgot he won a Nobel Peace Price, I'm sure he'll know what to do..