For the first time an international coalition has gone to war against a UN member which does not menace fellow-members but its own people.  It leaves US -  US   Saudi and US-Arab Gulf relations in bad shape.           The UN resolution's reference to "the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi" is easily interchangeable with the name of any other country and city by a Security Council majority. It is therefore a precedent that strikes fear in many capitals. .. .

Saudi Arabia ranges defenses against Iran, is willing to swap gesture favoring coalition operation in Libya for recognition of its takeover of Bahrain.

Profound disagreements among three allies and within their administrations are hampering progress in the Libyan operation. NATO and Arab props crumple.

US President Barack Obama Friday, March 18, laid down an ultimatum for Muammar Qaddafi to comply with or else face "military consequences," the key condition being the withdrawal of Libyan troops from three towns including Ajdabiya – tantamount to lifting the siege on Benghazi.  He set no deadline for those withdrawals nor did he demand that the towns in question revert to rebel control or Qaddafi's departure. European and Arab planes expected to start enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya in the next day or two.

The Saudi force that went into Bahrain Monday, March 14, along with UAE and Kuwaiti units, to stabilize the royal regime is larger than reported, consisting of a National Guard brigade, a mechanized brigade of the Saudi army and a tank battalion – altogether 3,500 men. Until recently close American allies, the two Gulf rulers flouted President Obama's policy of supporting popular uprisings, encouraged by Qaddafi gaining the upper hand against Libya's rebels and Washington's constraints against military intervention.

First Obama drafted five military options, leaving the impression of a NATO intervention, and then turned his back on the Libyan conflict as Muammar Qaddafi gained ground.

King Abdullah warns his princes and fellow-Arab rulers not to rely on the United States to rescue them from domestic unrest or any other threats. He blames Washington for failure to quell Bahrain troubles.

An annual intelligence report to Congress has dropped language stating that Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions are a future option and speaks in terms of the present, indicating a radical switch in US policy on Iran.  As rocketing oil prices triggered by Arab uprisings wiped out the sanctions damage to Iran, Washington confirmed the worst Saudi and Israeli suspicions that Barack Obama had come to terms with a nuclear-armed Iran, after the US long restrained Israel from nipping this menace in the bud.

US President Barack Obama launched a number of diplomatic and military steps Monday March 7 pointing toward preparation for US and NATO intervention in the Libyan civil war - notwithstanding objections from the Pentagon and US military chiefs. debkafile's sources report the administration was behind the UAE appeal Monday for UN Security Council protection for the Libyan people. The UAE was clearly seeking a mandate for military action, but Moscow quickly declared its opposition to any foreign intervention in Libya.

The pro-Qaddafi forces' offensive to recover Libya's most important towns and oil centers, launched Friday, March 4, resulted Saturday in the recapture of the key town of Zawiya and most of the oil facilities around the Gulf of Sirte.  In Washington and London, talk of military intervention on the side of the Libyan opposition was muted by the realization that field intelligence on both sides of the Libyan conflict was too sketchy to serve as a basis for decision-making.

President Barack Obama Saturday, March 5, asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to set out for Cairo on an emergency mission to help Egypt's military rulers regain control of a situation which is slipping into the hands of the increasingly radicalized protesters, debkafile reports. Friday, thousands of protesters seized control of Egyptian security police (Mahabis Namn El Dawla) headquarters, shutting down its operations across the country. Iran is transmitting large sums to the Muslim Brotherhood through Hamas.

Obama is at odds with his two top officials on the Arab revolt, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Gates opposes president's drive for military action to unseat Qaddafi. Clinton opposes the president's pro-Iran drive.

Most worrisome question for Middle East rulers is this: How come that all the revolts in Arab countries have somehow benefited Tehran and its allies? Unease is growing in Israel over US policy the uprisings and the changing regional landscape in favor of its enemies.

Hours after the UN Security Council unanimously imposed sanctions on Col. Muammar Qaddafi and his regime, his reactivated air force was flying troop and tribal reinforcements from the south and landing them at the military airfields of Tripoli, Misrata and Sirte, debkafile's military sources report. They were immediately deployed Sunday night, Feb. 27 at the main road intersections leading to the capital.  This move lessened the military significance of the rebels' reported takeover of towns around Tripoli, including Al Zawiya. 

The Obama administration prepares to approach Track II of its Syrian dialogue led by ex-President Jimmy Carter and a flock of senior Syrian figures. Their first task is to shore Bashar Assad up against his own opposition which is gearing up for street protests. Opponents in Washington warn them ...

Iran is claiming the exclusive right to control passage in the Persian Gulf while shooting out a naval tentacle to the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Saudi King Abdullah is so furious with Barack Obama, accusing him of dumping America's best Arab friend, that he is willing to play ...

By holding on, Hosni Mubarak confronted the Obama administration with a moral dilemma: How to orchestrate a military coup raising a general to the presidency and reconcile it with the democratic transfer of power?

The conversation between President Barack Obama and Saudi King Abdullah early Thursday, Feb. 10, was the most acerbic the US president has ever had with an Arab ruler, debkafile's sources report. Their falling out on the Egyptian crisis so enraged the king that some US and Middle East sources reported he suffered a sudden heart attack. Rumors of his death rocked world financial and oil markets that morning and were denied by an adviser to the ruling family.

Many Western and Middle East observers were astonished to hear US President Barak Obama's special envoy Frank Wisner insisting that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stay on to steer changes after twelve days of Washington-backed protests failed to unseat him. Some US sources suggested Wisner's words were a pointer to a White House flip flop in its policy on Egypt in view of the clear impression that it had missed its mark and was facing rising criticism at home.

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman survived an attack on his convoy in central Cairo a week ago just after he was sworn in by President Hosni Mubarak. This is denied by Cairo. debkafile: This and other untoward incidents tend to occur every time the US President  Barack Obama turns up the heat for ending the Mubarak presidency. The latest was the sabotage of the Egyptian-Israeli gas pipe in northern Sinai Saturday, Feb. 5 which cut off supplies to Israeli and Jordan.