March 31, 2011

• Saudi Princes Target Iran to Stop Bahrain - Yemmeni Takeover
• Regime Change in Sacramento and Anaheim
• Let HBO’s Palin Bashing Begin.
• German Conservatives Loose To Anti-Nuke Green Party
• Radioactivity From Japan Detected in Massachusetts
• USAF Working To Defend Satellites From Chinese Attacks
• Soros Backed Media Matters Declares War on Fox.
• Pope Calls For Diplomacy On Libya
• Syria Fighting Increases: Iranian Forces Involved.
• Israel Deploys Iron Doom Missile Defense
• Trump Lambasts Obama
• China Will Top U. S. In Science / Research
• Obama Signs “Finding” for Covert Operations In Libya.

Convinced that Iran is behind the popular uprisings threatening its Bahraini and Yemenite allies, Saudi Arabia is mobilising to halt the contagion. Putting aside their quarrels over who will succeed King Abdullah, the Saudi princes have been busy taking action to preserve the kingdom’s sphere of influence.

Obviously succession coukld become moot if Iran succeeds in overthrowing the government of either nation - both of which border Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump produced his birth certificate proving  his birth in the Bronx in 1946, as he continued to demabd Obama do the same. A birth certificate is quite different from the “certification of live birth” document that the White House has provided to the media. So, Trump who says he does not dispute Obama’s American birth.

The battle for the basketball has nothing to do with March madness or the upcoming NBA playoffs but everything to do with City finances in Anaheim and Sacramento as they fight to attract the worst professional basketball team in the nation. Anaheim wants to sell municipal bonds and that alone is being called illegal. Sacramento says as long they the Kings repay their loans they can go. In any case Sacramento’s Mayor now says they are going.

The bugaboo is the Los Angeles Lakers’ lucrative new television deal could drop in value if the Kings move to nearby Anaheim. That’s somewhat ironic, given the fact that the Lakers’ deal is one of the reasons Kings ownership is looking to Orange County.

To review: the Lakers recently signed a 20-year deal with Time Warner Cable - reportedly worth $3 billion - to create English and Spanish-language regional sports networks. That left the Lakers’ old TV partners - Fox Sports West and KCAL-TV - with a lot of programming hours to fill — hours that could be filled by Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and the rest of the Kings.

That, and the fact that Anaheim has an NBA-ready venue - the Honda Center, home to the NHL’s Ducks and very recently the host of NCAA Sweet Sixteen games - makes Orange County a logical destination for the Maloof brothers.

One problem - the value of that TV deal drops by a reported ten percent if another NBA team moves into the Los Angeles market. That gives Lakers owner Jerry Buss about 300 million reasons to oppose the move.

Clippers owner Donald Sterling is expected to oppose the move as well, as is Warriors Joe Lacob, who is reportedly concerned about the precedent it might set for a team wishing to move to San Jose at some point in the future. But it’s far from certain that Buss, Sterling and Lacob would be able to generate enough votes from other owners to block the relocation.

The U.S. Department of Education has fined Virginia Tech $55,000 for waiting too long to notify students during a 2007 shooting rampage.The amount was the maximum fine Tech faced for two violations of the federal Clery Act, which requires timely reporting of crimes on campus.

In announcing the fine Tuesday, department officials said the violation warranted a fine “far in excess” of $55,000. Violations and fines are rare, with only a few dozen over the past two decades.

HBO is having no problem casting a new made-for-cable movie, with an Oscar-nominated actress, an Emmy-winning actor and an additional critically acclaimed acting veteran queuing up for roles.

What’s the A-list attraction to the project?

The TV flick is “Game Change,” an adaptation of Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s book, which follows Sen. John McCain’s 2008 campaign and selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Oscar nominee Julianne Moore portrays the former Alaska governor, Ed Harris has the role of John McCain and Woody Harrelson is cast as Steve Schmidt, McCain’s erstwhile senior campaign strategist.

The real Schmidt has received a great deal of media attention for his disparaging remarks about Palin.

Expect the docudrama to convey its own derision for the vice-presidential candidate. HBO is the same network that delivered “Recount,” a lopsided revisionist history of the presidential election of 2000. “Recount’s” writer and director - Danny Strong and Jay Roach - are on board for “Game Change.”

California’s home prices are down by half from their peak, California median home prices peaked in March of 2007 at $484,000.  Four years later the median price is $244,000.  This is a 49 percent drop in four years losing $1.7 trillion in equity.

Incomes are stagnant or falling - when home sales were at their peak in 2005 and 2006 the California unemployment rate was 4%. Today it is 12.2 percent

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday it would take her Christian Democrats a long time to overcome the pain of an election defeat in their conservative heartland where the Greens won on fears about nuclear power as a reflection of Japan’s nuclear meltdown.

The environmentalist party is expected to take office in a coalition with the Social Democrats after the vote on Sunday in the prosperous southwestern region of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where Merkel’s party had ruled for nearly 60 years.

The Eiffel Tower was evacuated after a suspicious package was found. French investigators were baffled by this object for hours. It turns out it was just a can of deodorant. They had never seen anything like that.-Leno

After travelling 10,000 miles tiny amounts of the radioactive isotope cesium-137 were detected at a University of Nevada, Las Vegas laboratory between March 17 and 21 Two days later miniscule amounts of radioactive isotopes have been detected in rainwater in Massachusetts. Officials say there is no danger to people in the U. S.

The isotopes either escaped from the stricken nuclear reactors of were caught up in steam released from the reactors.

So far the amount of radiation is about equal to what you ingest when you each one banana. Bananas are high in potassium and naturally occurring potassium includes tiny amounts of radioactive potassium.

Floor tiles, granite, and kitty litter are all radioactive. They contain low levels of minerals that naturally decay. Bananas are radioactive for a similar reason. The fruit contains high levels of potassium. Radioactive K-40 has an isotopic abundance of 0.01% and a half-life of 1.25 billion years. The average banana contains around 450 mg of potassium and will experience about 14 decays each second. Anything containing carbon (you) is slightly radioactive.

Of course hysterics, especially those with an agenda; are and will use misinformation to achieve their anti-nuclear agenda.

65 million Americans have a criminal record - more than one in five.

The U. S. Air Force has launched a program to harden critical U.S. satellites from jamming, laser and other attacks. China is working feverishly on ways  to takeout U. S. satellites.  

Satellite attacks would likely be the very first step in a conflict with the United States. Crippling as few as two dozen military satellites could severely restrict U.S. military operations that are heavily reliant on space for communication, surveillance, intelligence and other strategically important functions.

Gregory L. Schulte, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, told a hearing of the subcommittee that China is one of many space weapons threats.

“We share your concern about countries that are developing a broad range of counter- space capabilities,” Shulte said. “China is foremost amongst those, but there are other countries too and even as we speak today or at least recently, countries like Iran and Libya, we’re jamming commercial satellites.”

The Air Force program is part of intelligence and military efforts to raise awareness of space threats and satellite vulnerabilities, and identifying both “material and non-material solutions to mitigate those threats,” Shelton said.

One study looked at software solutions designed to “reduce the effects of known threats and regain reconnaissance mission capability.”

A second study outlined ways to sustain positioning, navigation and timing capabilities, known as PNT, in a conflict environment in space. The program also “supports real world events, exercises and wargames,” Shelton said.

The issue of space asset protection became critical following China’s January 2007 test of an anti-satellite weapon and its later use of an anti-satellite missile to shoot down a target missile in 2008.

U.S. intelligence agencies know little about China’s anti-satellite capabilities but have grown concerned based on the tests and Chinese military writings that discuss the use of pre-emption in attacks.

58% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law while 36% are opposed. These figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 27% who Strongly Oppose it.  Support for repeal has ranged from a low of 50% to a high of 63%. In 53 out of the 54 weeks since it was passed, support for repeal has topped opposition by double digits. Consistently, Democrats have strongly opposed repeal while Republicans overwhelmingly favor it. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 55% favor repeal and 36% are opposed. Last week, support for repeal was at 53% overall.

Liberals are blaming the “vitriol” of the conservative movement for violence in America, Media Matters (a liberal group which targets conservative media) is planning what it calls a campaign of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage” against Fox News. It just goes to show that if liberals can’t win on message, they will seek to destroy the messenger.

In a story running on Politico.com, Media Matters founder David Brock described the old strategy against Fox News as one of “containment.” The new strategy is simple: “War on Fox.”

In an interview and a 2010 planning memo shared with POLITICO, Brock listed the fronts on which Media Matters — which he said is operating on a $10 million-plus annual budget — is working to chip away at Fox and its parent company, News Corp. They include its bread-and-butter distribution of embarrassing clips and attempts to rebut Fox points, as well as a series of under-the-radar tactics.

Media Matters, Brock said, is assembling opposition research files not only on Fox’s top executives but on a series of midlevel officials. It has hired an activist who has led a successful campaign to press advertisers to avoid Glenn Beck’s show. The group is assembling a legal team to help people who have clashed with Fox to file lawsuits for defamation, invasion of privacy or other causes.

Amazing, isn’t it? Rather than focusing on doing a better job of getting out the liberal message and promoting left wing policies, this group seeks to bring down the most popular cable news outlet in America. Instead of putting out a better product, they seek to destroy the other product using “under-the-radar tactics” and attacks on those who work at Fox. This is nothing short of pathetic.

Taking a casual look at the Media Matters web site, one will find a plethora of headlines aimed at Fox News:

• Who Is G. Edward Griffin, Beck’s Expert On The Federal Reserve?
• Fox News Astoundingly Claims The Press Was Tough On Bush In Lead-Up To Iraq
• Fox Hypes Trump’s Birtherism
• Brit Hume Resurrects Myths About Health Care Reform’s Passage
• Fox Mocks DOJ For Bringing Lawsuit To Defend Religious Practices Of Muslim
• Hemmer Cherry Picks “Unscientific Poll” To Distort Public Support For Collective Bargaining
• The list goes on and on and on.
• Here’s an example of their “reporting:”

Media Matters purportedly received $1 million last year from uber left wing billionaire George Soros, and Politico.com reports that the organization has around 90 people on staff with a $10 million (or higher) budget — all aimed at bringing down Fox News.

It all goes back to the fact that Americans don’t buy the left wing agenda. It was soundly rejected in the last election. Americans don’t want big government; they don’t want more spending; they don’t want more debt; and they don’t want higher taxes. Yet that is exactly what the left wing is selling. Their only hope is to be the only product. Then Americans would have no choice. So they seek out and attack, embarrass, sue, threaten, and otherwise harass members of the conservative movement. Some message, eh?

Bahrain continues to be dragged into war by Iranian backed insurgents.

Pope Benedict XVI has taken a more defined line on the military operation in Libya, calling for urgent diplomacy to suspend hostilities.

Addressing pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, the Pope said he was praying for a “return to harmony” in Libya and North Africa, and made a “heartfelt appeal to international organisations and to political and military leaders for the immediate launch of a dialogue that will halt the use of arms.”

He made the appeal hours after returning from a visit to the Ardeatine Caves in Rome where 335 Italians were killed by the Nazis on March 24, 1944.

The Pope said the “increasingly dramatic news” coming out of Libya was making him “progressively more concerned about the well-being and safety of civilians, and apprehensive over the developments in the situation, which is currently characterised by the use of arms.”

President Obama addressed the nation on Libya. This changes his previous policy on Libya, which was, “don’t ask, don’t tell.” - Leno

Young armed gangs with close ties to the regime of Syrian Leader Bashar Assad roamed Sunday through the streets of the Syrian seaside city Latakia, barricading alleys and intimidating city residents in this country which is normally tightly-controlled.

While the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is said to be deployed in Daraa, the Assad regime is sending its youth gangs, al-Shabbeeha, to control the protests in Latakia using brutal tactics which include rooftop gunmen sniping at residents, while being protected by security forces.

According to witnesses from Latakia, the Sunnis were marching in the funeral of some of their fallen from the earlier protests, when they were provoked by Alawites dancing and celebrating.

The two parties collided without weapons, and suddenly, random gunshots broke out and targeted all: Sunnis, Alawites, and security.

It was reported that the fourth regiment of Maher al-Assad, Bashar’s pro-Iran brother, was in Latakia after it withdrew from Daraa, having left the city to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Subsequently, buses and cars filled with al-Shabbeeha arrived, and the men started opening fire from automatic rifles on the protesters, while being protected from Maher’s regiment. Then, according to reports from Latakia, they started stopping people on the streets, and confronting students in college dorms, reportedly executing selected Sunnis among them.

Later, al-Shabbeeha started going village to village, alley to alley, spreading terror wherever they went in what some observers in Damascus have called a bid to spur sectarian hatred.

Some neighborhoods have started to organize to protect their families and properties by arming themselves and blocking the entrances to their alleys with cars and trash containers.

Internet and cell phones users learned that some members of al-Shabbeeha have been tracked down, using their car models and license plates on social-media networks, and finally some were apprehended.

The first evidence that the regime was playing the sectarian card was a speech by Buthaina Shabaan, the media adviser to the president, in which she claimed that Palestinian Islamists were responsible for the shootings in Daraa.

Buhtaina Shaaban’s speech was followed by many from Muslim leaders, such as mufti Ahmad Hassoun.

Among the ironies is the fact that the regime had been trying to bolster its secular image in the past decade, and had never used religious leaders to represent it.

The violent manifestation of this sectarian card, however, is the unleashing of al-Shabbeeha gangs, who are killing and pillaging in the Sunni areas in Latakia.

Many Syrians who demanded only reforms in the beginning, are now supporting a full-scale revolution that aims to topple each and every single symbol of the current regime, including the flag.

Some analysts believe that the British-educated president would bring modernism and reforms to the country. That cultivated image has been smashed by some of the atrocities already committed. Many commentators believe that only a fate like that of Saddam and his sons would satisfy the masses now.

Al-Shabbeeha gang members are not nihilists. Leading members have ties to ranking Alawite officers in the Syrian internal security forces and the Ministry of Interior.

The gang originated in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous and started expanding from there.

Its main activities are armed robbery, grand theft auto, smuggling, and drug dealing.

In the past decade, the al-Shabbeeha gang managed to steal hundreds of cars and around a dozen cargo trucks without being stopped by the police. The automobiles get refurbished and sold in Iraq. The gang comprises the third generation of the old guard, headed by Nameer al-Assad, son of Bade’a al-Assad, one of President Bashar Assad’s cousins.

Nameer is a third generation Assad, born in Kirdaha, the headquarters of all the Assad family after the grandfather of Hafez al-Assad settled there.

The original name of the family wasn’t Assad (Lion), it was Wahsh (Monster). There are unconfirmed reports that the families are non-Arab immigrants who arrived in Latakia early in the 20th century.

Nameer is the second in the command chain of al-Shabbeeha gang, the head is a relative only known by his nickname, “Sheikh al-Jabel”, (Chief of the Mountain).

The gang flourished in the coasts of Syria and in Lebanon after President Bashar Assad came into power. However, their reign in Lebanon was short-lived as the Syrian army withdrew just as al-Shabbeeha were gaining ground there, causing their focus to shift to Damascus.

Nameer’s name first came to light in 2005, when he attacked a military car transporting an incarcerated member of his gang and freed him in a Hollywood action movie manner. His gang used three cars with Presidential Palace (Republican Palace as it is called here) license plates to execute the plan.

Among the biggest robberies committed by his gang were the summer 2004 Samir Amis hotel robbery and the February 2005 al-Haram money gram robbery, both in Damascus.

In his 2005 robbery, Nameer and his gang were caught on tape stealing around US $900,000 using automatic rifles in broad daylight.

He was arrested, but then of course, he was let go after less than a month in incarceration. It had always been easy for Nameer to leave prison just by dropping his family name and paying a bribe. His cousin the president knew and did not seem to mind.

Superglue inventor Harry Coover has died at age 94. His funeral was a closed casket affair because nobody could pry the lid open.

Superglue was invested in 1942 as a side effect of another project to create transparent plastic gun sights. It was originally marketed as Eastman 910. When Coover retired from Eastman Kodak he had 460 patents to his name.

Of the 35 countries that are supposed to be supporting the implementation of the Libyan no-fly zone, just ten of them have signed up for military action. And of those, three - Britain, France and America - are undertaking the lion’s share of the sorties. So much for international consensus.

Having enthusiastically backed a no-fly zone the Arab League has withdrawn its support the moment the bombs started to fall. Meanwhile a whole cluster of our so-called EU allies - Germany and Italy to name but two - are eagerly anticipating the moment a stray coalition bomb kills a group of Gaddafi-supporting civilians so that they can loudly proclaim, “I told you so!”

Obama who was cowed into action by Clinton and Rice looks weak and every inconclusive day that passes strengthens anti-US sentiments encouraging Iranian adventurism. In any case Bahrain is much more important and Obama is ignoring it.

President Obama escalated the war in Afghanistan, he sent the Navy in to shoot at pirates in the Indian Ocean, and now he’s attacking Libya. It’s like he took the Nobel Peace Prize as an insult. - Kimmel

Israel, plagued by renewed attacks from the Gaza Strip, has pledged to launch operational deployment of its new missile defense system. Scores of rockets and mortar shells have been fired into Israel randomly to terrorize residents.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to begin deployment of the Iron Dome missile and rocket defense system. Officials acknowledged that the deployment would be initial and not ensure protection from missile, mortar and rocket fire by Palestinian gunners in the Gaza Strip.

“This is the first battery, and every additional battery that we get will join this system,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said. “However, the full deployment would take several years and involve significant budgets.”

On March 27, the Israeli military said the operational trial of Iron Dome began in the south near the city of Beersheba. The military did not say if or when the system would be deployed.

“It’s important to keep in mind that the Iron Dome is only in its preliminary, testing stages such that citizens must continue following the Home Front Command’s instructions on how to stay protected,” Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Yair Golan said.

Officials did not explain what the government meant by an operational trial of the first Iron Dome battery. The Israel Air Force has received two batteries of Iron Dome, designed to intercept short-range projectiles of the type fired by Hamas and its Palestinian militia allies. The United States has pledged $205 million for the Israeli procurement of what could be another eight Iron Dome batteries.

“The battery will be deployed in the south, being moved from time to time according to operational needs,” Barak said. “The system can fire back if fired at but it’s important to remember that Iron Dome is still not fool-proof.”

Iron Dome, designed by the state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, had been scheduled for initial deployment in October 2010. But the plan was delayed amid reports of technical faults as well as training deficiencies.

“Iron Dome is still in the experimental stage and we do not have the possibility of deploying batteries to protect every home, school, base and installation,” Netanyahu said. “The true answer to the missile threat is a combination of aggressive and deterrent measures, protective measures and a strong stand by the government and the public.”

Military sources said the General Staff as well as the Defense Ministry have sought to delay deployment of Iron Dome. They said the military brass was concerned that Hamas would fire missiles to determine Iron Dome’s vulnerability.

“The IDF stresses that the Iron Dome will not be used consistently and will be moved around according what the situation necessitates,” the military said. “The deployment will not be permanent, allowing the systems to be moved between areas according to evolving security assessments.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it recently warned Wall Street that al-Qa’ida may be plotting an attack against financial institutions. The threat information, however, was “not imminent and not specific.”

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been mulling a plan to deport thousands of suspected Iranian agents.

Arab diplomatic sources said the six GCC states were discussing a proposal to identify and track an estimated 20,000 Shi’ites linked to Iran. They said many of the agents have been activated in 2011 and represented a security threat to the GCC.

“For years, the GCC knew of these people, but looked the other way,” a diplomat said. “We can’t look the other way anymore.”

The Kuwaiti daily A-Siyassa reported that the GCC plan would deport thousands of Lebanese Shi’ites with links to Hizbullah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The newspaper, in a report on March 24, said the plan was drafted in wake of intelligence reports that Lebanese Shi’ites were recruited to demonstrate in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

“No Lebanese Shi’ite linked to or suspected of being associated with Hizbullah and IRGC will remain in the Gulf,” a diplomatic source said.

The GCC was said to have received intelligence from Bahrain, France and the United States on the influx of Hizbullah and IRGC agents into Sunni Gulf states. A-Siyassa said the intelligence reports asserted that IRGC and Hizbullah agents were leading the anti-regime protests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

On March 27, Qatar was reported to have captured two Iranian weapons boats near Bahrain. The Kuwaiti news portal Al Aan said the Iranian vessels were being held in Zubara in northeastern Qatar.

At the same time, Bahrain has been arresting suspected Hizbullah agents. The GCC kingdom has also blocked flights from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.

“Hizbullah has provided training for their people,” Bahraini Social Development Minister Fatima Al Balushi said.

In Kuwait, parliament has sought to study the Iranian presence in the GCC sheikdom. Kuwaiti parliamentarian Mubarak Al Waalan has demanded that the government provide information on the staff of the Iranian embassy as well as how many Iranians live and work in Kuwait. The Iranian community was said to have increased significantly since 2003.

President Obama said the United States has clear and focused goals in Libya. He said he would share those goals with us as soon as Hillary shares them with him.– Fallon

Potential 2012 GOP presidential contender Donald Trump says President Barack Obama’s Monday night address to the nation on America’s Libyan intervention “makes no sense.” Trump opined that two truths nonetheless shine forth: Obama apparently is afraid of Congress, and if tyrant Moammar Gadhafi remains in power, “it’s a major, major black eye for this country.”

On CNN’ former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson tangled with Trumpwhen Trump said calling the Libyan opposition “rebels” might be romanticizing a group of insurgents that no one knows anything about.

Trump said what many are thinking, “It would be very, very sad if we’re bombing all of these tanks, killing all of these people . . . and Iran ends up taking over Libya. Richardson stuck to the party line ever looking for his next appointment.

Last week Trump was on ABC’s The View sending its liberal hosteees into a tizzy when Trump demanded Obama’s birth certificate. Whoopi Goldberg was particularly unnerved by Trump’s I show him mine if he’ll me his challenge.

A major new study by the Royal Society, the UK’s national science academy China is on course to overtake the US in scientific output possibly as soon as 2013 - far earlier than expected.

The study, Knowledge, Networks and Nations, charts the challenge to the traditional dominance of the United States, Europe and Japan.

The figures are based on the papers published in recognised international journals listed by the Scopus service of the publishers Elsevier.

In 1996, the first year of the analysis, the US published 292,513 papers - more than 10 times China’s 25,474.

By 2008, the US total had increased very slightly to 316,317 while China’s had surged more than seven-fold to 184,080.

Previous estimates for the rate of expansion of Chinese science had suggested that China might overtake the US sometime after 2020.

But this study shows that China, after displacing the UK as the world’s second leading producer of research, could go on to overtake America in as little as two years’ time.

It’s speculative, of course, but indicative of a changing world.

No one is certain when All Fools or April Fools Day began the closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year’s Day was moved to January 1.

Traditions vary in Scotland April Fool’s Day is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. It is called Taily Day. The origin of the “kick me” sign can be traced to this observance. In Mexico it is celebrated on December 28 and was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery.

Regardless pranks major and minor will be the standard of the day.

Obama promised  U. S. citizens there would be “no boots on the ground.” Now comes news of a “Presidential finding” for covert operatiuons, i.e., Boos on the Ground. The United States and Britain have inserted covert intelligence agents into Libya to make contact with rebels and to gather data to guide coalition air strikes, a report said Wednesday.

The White House refused to comment on the apparent shadow war in Libya, and also declined to discuss another report that President Barack Obama had signed a secret order allowing Central Intelligence Agency operations in the country.

A senior US official did, however, warmly welcome the defection to Britain of Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa, interpreting his flight as a sign that Moamer Kadhafi’s inner circle was beginning to crumble under massive pressure.

The New York Times said the CIA had inserted clandestine agents into Libya to gather data for airstrikes and establish links with rebels, who Wednesday lost a swathe of captured territory to Kadhafi loyalists.

Obama has insisted no American ground troops will be deployed in the bid to shield civilians in Libya. But the Times said small groups of American covert agents had been conducting missions inside Libya for several weeks.

It also cited current and former British officials as saying dozens of British special forces and MI6 secret intelligence service agents were also on the ground in Libya collecting data on government forces and weaponry.

ABC News, meanwhile, reported that Obama’s presidential order, or “finding”, authorized covert CIA operations to “aid the effort” in Libya.

Such presidential orders set down a legal framework for conducting covert actions and would generally be required before the launch of clandestine missions.

White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to confirm or deny the reports, citing “common practice” not to comment on intelligence matters.

“I will reiterate what the president said yesterday — no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya. We’re not ruling it out or ruling it in,” said Carney.

“We’re assessing and reviewing options for all types of assistance that we could provide to the Libyan people, and have consulted directly with the opposition and our international partners about these matters.”

Intense debate is taking place within the administration, in Congress and between the United States and its coalition partners over the idea of arming rebels in Libya.

Some opponents worry about the leanings of some fighters, especially since NATO’s top commander Admiral James Stavridis said Tuesday that while most rebels were “responsible,” some showed “flickers” of Al-Qaeda or Hezbollah sympathies.

Senior Obama administration officials have said for several days that senior Kadhafi cohorts knew he was on borrowed time and were beginning to consider their positions, but there had been little evidence to support their claims.

But their hopes that Kadhafi’s regime could fall got a huge boost late Wednesday with the dramatic flight to Britain by Kussa, a former Libyan intelligence chief, who said he was resigning.

“This is a very significant defection and an indication that people around Kadhafi think the writing’s on the wall,” a senior US administration official said on condition of anonymity.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, pressed on with its effort to justify and explain its tactics in the Libyan mission.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and the top uniformed US officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, conducted classified briefings on Capitol Hill.

Many lawmakers, especially Republicans, have complained they were not sufficiently consulted about the Libya operation before Obama launched it two weeks ago and have raised sharp questions about US strategy.

Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, said the question of possibly arming Libyan rebels needed deep thought.

“It needs cautious consideration and this administration has proceeded with caution generally and I’m sure they will on this one as well,” he said.

Influential Democratic Senator John Kerry told AFP that it was clear that the hard-pressed rebels needed “need some kind of assistance.”

Veteran Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg weighed in on Kadhafi’s fate amid suggestions he could seek exile, and reflected sentiments of his New Jersey home state where some of the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing lived.

“My personal wish is that Kadhafi leaves in a box,” Lautenberg said.