DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
LIBYA LIBERATED
Tiara Dees ▶ The Associated Press Lybian rebels celebrate after the fall of Lybian president Moammar Gadhafi’s forces in Nawfaliyah.
Lybian rebels capture two towns, make an advance toward Gadhafi’s hometown BY TARA BAHRAMPOUR AND GREG JAFFE The Washington Post
RAS LANUF, Libya Libyan rebels came under heavy fire as they pushed toward Moammar Gadhafi’s home town on the Mediterranean coast Monday, setting up a potentially crucial battle in the sixweek-old uprising The rebels said they had captured the towns of Nawfaliyah and Harawah in their advance west, but Gadhafi’s birthplace of Sirte re-
Tiara Dees ▶ The Associated Press A Lybian rebel takes position fighting in brush. mained in government rebels have seized so far. hands. Fighting continAlong the coastal ued throughout the day road, the oil terminals in Wadi al-Ahmar, a at Brega and Ras Lanuf valley east of Sirte with were operating, after terrain that may pose rebel forces retook them more challenges than over the weekend. Gadthe flat desert roads the hafi forces had wrest-
ed the two towns from rebel control two and a half weeks ago. Rebels sped up the road bringing supplies to the front line or waited in long lines at gas stations. They were jubilant about their latest victories, which have come amid coalition airstrikes against Gadhafi targets. “We’re going to Sirte. Anyone who doesn’t love Gadhafi, come along!” yelled a young man standing on the back of a pickup truck as it sped west. See LYBIA | PAGE 4C
Obama: Lybia should be ‘America’s responsiblity’ BY BEN FELLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) —Defending the first war launched on his watch, President Barack Obama declared Monday night that the United States intervened in Libya to prevent a slaughter of civilians that would have stained the world’s conscience and “been a betrayal of who we are.” Yet he ruled out targeting Moammar Gadhafi, warning that trying to oust him militarily would be a costly mistake. Obama announced that NATO would take command over the entire Libya operation on Wednesday, keeping his pledge to get the U.S. out of the lead ‚Äî but offering no estimate on when the conflict might end. He never described the U.S.-led military campaign as a “war” and gave no details on its costs, but he offered an expansive case for why he believed it was in the national interest
Pres. Barak Obama of the United States and allies to act. In blunt terms, Obama said the U.S.-led response had stopped Gadhafi’s advances and halted a slaughter he warned could have shaken the stability of an entire region. “To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and —more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are,” Obama said. “Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and See OBAMA | PAGE 1A
Tiara Dees ▶ The Associated Press Lybian rebels have been aided by the US.
South Carolina lawmakers turn off the State legislatures pressure Amazon, other switch on incandescent light bulbs online retailers to collect sales taxes BY JIM DAVENPORT Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina lawmakers are taking a stand in favor of states’
lights. With incandescent bulbs being phased out under federal law in favor of energy-efficient compact fluorescents, legislators want to ex-
empt South Carolina from the measure, saying Washington has no business telling the state how to light its closets and countertops. See BULBS | PAGE 4A
BY RACHEL METZ AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —Tax-free shopping is under threat for many online shoppers
as states facing widening budget gaps increasingly pressure Amazon. com Inc. and other Internet retailers to start collecting sales taxes from their residents.
Billions of dollars are at stake as a growing number of states look for ways to generate more revenue without violating a 1992 U.S. SuSee TAXES| PAGE 4A