LIBYA LATEST – AT 9:04 A.M. ET:  To say the picture is muddled would be modest.  It is hard to know exactly what is happening on the ground.  However, a rebel leader, meeting with a UN envoy, has set out the first forjal conditions for the conflict to end.  From Fox:

BENGHAZI, Libya-- A Libyan opposition leader says the rebels will accept a U.N.-demanded cease-fire if Moammar Gadhafi pulls his forces from all cities and allows peaceful protests.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil spoke Friday during a joint press conference with U.N. envoy Abdelilah Al-Khatib. Al-Khatib is visiting the rebels' de-facto stronghold of Benghazi in hopes of reaching a cease-fire and political solution to the crisis embroiling the North African nation.

Abdul-Jalil says the rebels' condition for a cease fire is "that the Gadhafi brigades and forces withdraw from inside and outside Libyan cities to give freedom to the Libyan people to choose and the world will see that they will choose freedom."

At the same time, American policy gets more and more confused, even, incredibly, drawing a reprimand from Secretary of Defense Gates, as Fox reports:

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is about to pull its attack planes out of the international air campaign in Libya, hoping NATO partners can take up the slack.

The announcement Thursday drew incredulous reactions from some in Congress who wondered aloud why the Obama administration would bow out of a key element of the strategy for protecting Libyan civilians and crippling Muammar Qaddafi's army.

"Odd," "troubling" and "unnerving" were among critical comments by senators pressing for an explanation of the announcement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that American combat missions will end Saturday.

"Your timing is exquisite," Republican Sen. John McCain said sarcastically, alluding to Qaddafi's military advances this week.

And...

Gates said no one should be surprised by the U.S. combat air pullback, but he called the timing "unfortunate" in light of Qaddafi's battlefield gains.

Yeah, I'd say so.  My own reasonably informed guess is that the White House is trying to run the operation while, at the same time, appeasing its leftist base.  Mission impossible. 

And the German government has just declared that there is no military solution to Libya, a patently ridiculous comment.  Of course there's a military solution, if NATO is willing to impose it.  But Germany is increasingly becoming a problem within NATO, going its own way and becoming increasingly assertive.  German companies are supplying sensitive material to Iran, and Germany refused to go along with the military campaign to protect civilians in Libya.  Although Angela Merkel, Germany's leader, is decidedly pro-American, she is a leading a nation that is drifting back toward some very disturbing old ways. 

The lack of real American leadership right now is profound, and the resulting confusion and lack of a firm strategy is going to cost us.

April 1, 2011