Libyan rebels lose ground gained since airstrikes

BENGHAZI, Libya  Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi blasted toward a stronghold of the rebellion against his rule Thursday as U.S. military officials acknowledged they know little about the rebels asking for Western help.

"We really have very little insight into the very different pieces of this opposition," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the House Armed Services Committee. "Part of the challenge here is that the opposition is ... so disparate."

The rebels who rose up against Gadhafi in eastern Libya have lost the ground they gained after the United States, France and Britain began pounding Gadhafi's forces from the air two weeks ago.

Gadhafi's forces, made up of his own military and mercenaries from other African countries, used heavy shelling to retake the town of Brega. Many rebel fighters have also fled Ajdabiya, the last major town standing between Gadhafi's forces and the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

The rebels have been asking for more help, including arms, training and airstrikes. CIA agents are in Libya, though whether they are gathering information only or assisting the rebels is not known, the Associated Press reported.

Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA case officer, said there are things CIA agents can do to help. He said the officers would probably assess the arms and equipment needs of the rebels and could help coordinate airstrikes.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Gadhafi commands a force of up to 20,000 troops and that the air campaign has degraded his forces by about 20% to 25%.

"That doesn't mean that he's about to break from a military standpoint because that's just not the case," Mullen said.

U.S. military leaders have said they have seen no significant evidence that Libyan rebels have al-Qaeda or other extremist ties. Adm. James Stavridis, the supreme allied commander in Europe, has said he has seen "flickers" in intelligence reports of potential al-Qaeda and Hezbollah involvement in the rebel movement.

Though much about the rebels is unknown, Gates suggested they are preferable to Gadhafi.

"We may not know much about the opposition or the rebels, but we know a great deal about Gadhafi," Gates said. "This guy has been a huge problem for the United States for a long time."

In Benghazi, rebel fighters said they are fighting for liberation from a dictator, not for an Islamic theocracy hostile to the West.

"Anyone worrying about terrorism or jihad in the terrorist sense, they should focus on a ruler bringing mercenaries to kill his own people," said Abdulrahim Janjan, an organizer at Hisabat Al-Askariyeh, a military base that receives volunteers and coordinates with the front line.

Janjan, 50, served in Libya's military from 1977 to 1986 and said he was working at Sirte Oil Co. in Brega when he joined the revolutionaries. He said the rebels could win if they had the weapons. "Even on the front lines, they are swapping Kalashnikovs: One man will use one until he has to take a rest, and will give it to his friend."

Mohammed Sa'ad, 50, a former pilot in the Libyan Air Force, estimated the number of rebel troops on the eastern front at 3,000 to 7,000.

"In 1986, I was one of Gadhafi's soldiers fighting against the USA," Sa'ad said. "Now I am 100% with the USA."