THOSE LIBYAN WEAPONS – AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  We were struck by a report that the price for shoulder-to-air missiles on the black market has dropped, probably indicating that those Libyan weapons are already being sold outside the country.  This could create a real tragedy down the line.  From Fox:

It's a polite faceoff of spies vs. diplomats, as the Obama administration debates how aggressively to pursue Libya's vast weapons stores, including tons of caustic mustard agent and thousands of anti-aircraft rockets that experts fear could fall into the hands of terrorists or Libyan loyalists.

The State Department wants to wait for fighting to abate before moving throughout Libya to locate and secure fugitive leader Muammar Qaddafi's massive weapons stores, according to two U.S. officials. It's also stressing working through the nascent Libyan rebel government.

Some U.S. intelligence officials have been pushing to expand the CIA's role in Libya to track down the weaponry faster, unilaterally without the rebels' help if necessary. They fear the rockets in particular may be quickly sold, ending up with al-Qaida or fueling a Libyan insurgency for years to come, the officials say.
Already, the prices of the shoulder-launched missiles called MANPADs have fallen on the regional black market, the officials say, suggesting some of Qaddafi's stores are already being sold.

While many of the aging rockets may not work, the Soviet-era missiles can take down a helicopter or civilian jetliner.

The White House has resisted calls to expand the CIA's covert mission, just as it has ruled out deploying U.S. troops on the ground in Libya, one current and one former U.S. official said. The administration is pushing instead for other NATO partners to step in and take up the hunt.

COMMENT:  This is a pretty critical part of the mission.  I'm not sure I'd want to trust NATO.  Apparently there wasn't much planning, if any, for collecting Libyan stockpiles.  Please notice the lack of media criticism of Obama over that, and contrast with the hail of criticism that President Bush endured over planning for post-war Iraq. 

August 26, 2011