More Bad News, but Some Hope

Gaddafi's advancing, and avoiding our air power, apparently by having his troops act like rebels. The rebels themselves are undisciplined, so without the advantages our air support gives them they lose.

The good news is that every military that has ever used air power has had the problem of figuring out which tanks to blow, and their are a variety of solutions. Radioes broadcasting on a given frequency are an obvious one. In this case flags and designs on the vehicles would be useful, too. The problem with any of them is that Gaddafi's men could easily replicate them, and given the rebels inability to control their troops it's entirely possible all of Gaddafi's troops would be broadcasting the right frequency first because they do as they're told.

We shouldn't give up hope here. Gaddafi's troops are using a gimmick that doesn't change the fundamental balance of forces. If the rebels can get their act together, figure out a uniform Gaddafi can't copy, and appoint some officers with some actual power we're fine. We're even better if somebody measures one of those pickups, and digs a trench in the road one foot longer and deeper. Then the rebels can all retreat behind it, NATO can blow up all armed pickups west of the trench, and all will be well.