THE BUNKER IS HIT – AT 7:39 A.M. ET:  NATO is targeting Qaddafi's headquarters.  From Fox:

TRIPOLI – NATO airstrikes targeted the center of Muammar Qaddafi's seat of power early Monday, destroying a multi-story library and office and badly damaging a reception hall for visiting dignitaries.

Qaddafi's whereabouts at the time of the attack on his sprawling Bab al-Azizya compound were unclear. A security official at the scene said four people were lightly hurt.

Monday's strike came after Qaddafi's forces unleashed a barrage of shells and rockets at the besieged rebel city of Misrata, in an especially bloody weekend that left at least 32 dead and dozens wounded.

The battle for Misrata, which has claimed hundreds of lives in the past two months, has become the focal point of Libya's armed rebellion against Qaddafi since fighting elsewhere is deadlocked.

Video of Misrata civilians being killed and wounded by Qaddafi's heavy weapons, including Grad rockets and tank shells, have spurred calls for more forceful international intervention to stop the bloodshed in the rebel-held city.

COMMENT:  This is speculation, but I'm assuming that the attack on Qaddafi's compound was designed to scare him into leaving.  Increasingly, analysts see Qaddafi's departure as absolutely mandatory for NATO to proclaim any kind of victory.  If Muammar stays, we lose.

At the same time, more hawkish members of the Senate – McCain, Graham, Lieberman – are calling for increasing American support for the rebels.  The fear is that a stalemate is developing.  NATO, in such a circumstance, would probably lose interest, and we would look ridiculous, and weak.  Same thing.

April 25, 2011