McCAIN ON LIBYA – AT 11:26 A.M. ET:  Libya is rapidly becoming the forgotten war.  After some initial bravado and some intermittent chest thumping, the Obama administration let the drive to topple Gadhafi go onto a "to do next year" list.  John McCain is critical, warning that the delay in bringing down the Libyan government can produce the worst possible outcome – the taking over of the rebel forces by extremist elements:

Sen. John McCain on Sunday said Libyan civilians are dying in large part because the Obama administration has refused to commit the full weight of the nation’s military to the fight to overthrow strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

“This thing could have been over a long time ago,” Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican who was the party’s 2008 presidential nominee, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

He said he was happy to see President Obama’s position on Libya “gradually changing,” evidenced by the fact that U.S. forces remain involved in the effort, despite Mr. Obama’s earlier declaration that the nation’s military commitment would be short-lived.

Mr. McCain also said the continued standoff in Libya could allow extremists, such as al Qaeda leaders, to take control of rebel forces. A quicker end to the fighting, which must include the removal of Col. Gadhafi from power, Mr. McCain said, would make it less likely that terrorists would gain a foothold in Libya.

COMMENT:  This last point is the most important.  Even Tom Friedman of The New York Times is acknowledging that the Egyptian revolution stands a good chance of going off the rails and being lost to the Muslim Brotherhood.  Extremist elements are very active in Libya, especially in the eastern areas held by the rebels, and we could wind up with a situation worse than Gadhafi remaining in power.

Remember, most revolutions fail.  In the Mideast, they fail spectacularly.

May 29, 2011