SHADES OF THE BUNKER, 1945 – AT 8:17 A.M. ET:  We learned in the last 24 hours how careful we have to be about reports from Libya.  One commentator said that, in Libya, lying is the national pastime. 

Claims that Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, who heads the army, was captured, turned out to be false.  Also false were reports that Gaddafi was in Algeria.  We actually don't know where he is, but we do know for certain that the international airport near Tripoli is now in rebel hands, making a Gaddafi escape by air highly problematical.

At the same time, all reports this morning speak of fighting in Tripoli, with indications that the final victory of the rebels might be delayed.  Some rebel units were pushed back yesterday.  But today the rebels are fighting to break into Gaddafi's personal compound, the seat of his power for years:

(Reuters) - Libyan rebels battled on Tuesday around Muammar Gaddafi's headquarters, where a son of the veteran leader had emerged overnight to confound reports of his capture and to rally cheering loyalists for a rearguard fightback.

NATO jets flew in support of the rebels, who said they were trying to break into Gaddafi's fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound. His son and presumed heir Saif al-Islam had earlier told a crowd that his father was well and still in Tripoli.

Heavy smoke drifted across the city center and a Reuters correspondent at a government-controlled hotel near the sprawling compound heard heavy gunfire and explosions. NATO declined comment on whether it had struck Bab al-Aziziya.

COMMENT:  This reminds us of the Red Army's assault on Hitler's bunker in the spring of '45.  The reporting is hour by hour, minute by minute.  One key question, of course, is whether Gaddafi is in the bunker.  (If he is, I doubt if he's with Eva Braun.)   If he's there, will he fight to the end, allow himself to be captured, or do an Adolf. 

But the other key question, and much more consequential, is what comes next.  We really don't know that much about many of the rebel factions.  The front men seem okay, but the front men in the Egyptian revolution seemed like decent chaps as well.  Americans are haunted by the specter of another Iran. 

Stay tuned. 

August 23, 2011