U.S. mission in Libya - Over but not finished

United States warplanes at bases across the Med stood down Monday as the United States stepped back from offensive military operations against Libya. 

Under criticism at home over the pace of spending on the conflict - millions per day - the Pentagon announced that its role henceforth in the operation would be limited to surveillance, communications jamming, mid-air refueling and search and rescue.

Other NATO countries involved in the operation continued to pound Libyan military forces who have shown little sign of giving up their attacks on rebel forces in the eastern portion of the North African country.

And while calls continue from around the global community for Moammar Ghaddafi to step down, nobody really knows what a post-Ghaddafi Libya would look like, and whether it would be any better than it was before this all started.

What is sure is that the tremendous amount of armament and weapons that has been pilfered from Libyan stockpiles during the conflict will not be simply turned in when the war is over. I think it's a fair bet to say we'll be seeing those weapons and explosives again in other venues around the world for many years to come.