Unfortunately, this is looking more and more like a private fight between two murderous thugs, namely Gadaffi of Libya and King Abdulla of Saudi Arabia. I am hearing from various sources that the Saudi's have been using their oil in order to gain leverage against the UN Security Council Members (China Included) most likely to have vetoed resolution 1973 and convert them into abstainers.
If this is the case, this a worrying and unexpected demonstration of Saudi Power and an unhealthy harbinger of possible future events. Put this in context with the intervention in Bahrain and the growing political/religious rivalry with Iran, it makes the Saudis look far more assertive and positively dangerous.
It also has an unfortunate impact on perception, as suddenly, at a stroke, the role of the NATO countries; especially its European members, is transformed form that of principled humanitarians to that of hired hands and therefore simply being seen by many people as a better equipped version of the Africans recruited by Gadaffi.
