NATO may need escalation to break Libya stalemate

Tomas Valasek, a defence analyst at the Centre for European Reform, said an escalation of the military effort could be necessary - at least in the short term - to end attacks on civilians and apply pressure for a political solution. "If NATO doesn't want to be left in this situation indefinitely, where there is effectively a military stalemate and hostilities against civilians haven't ceased, it may be necessary to do more than it's currently doing One of the very important variables they simply didn't know about was the difference between the military strength of the opposition and the political unity of the regime It turns out the opposition is militarily weaker than thought and the regime is probably stronger than thought. War is by definition very unpredictable and full of variables. Sometimes you get them right and sometimes you get them wrong."