As the civil war drags on Libya, Gadhafi is gaining the upper hand over the rebels. He has recaptured key port cities, sites of major oil wells. His airpower dwarfs the gun power of the insurgents whom the 42-year dictator is pushing back.
While Gadhafi is holding onto power through arbitrary bloodshed, Saudi Arabia has also quelled dissent within its borders and has sent troops into neighboring Bahrain to stop ongoing protests there.
The populist revolution sweeping the Middle East has stalled among major roadblocks. Either unmatched military might or long-entrenched dynastic authority have reserved sufficient power to the House of Saud and Gadhafi to maintain their autocratic rule.
Despite these setbacks, the United States must refrain from entering the ongoing fray convulsing these countries. Even if the Royal family in Saudi Arabia and the ruthless military complex in Libya stamp out the rebellions, these uprisings have shaken the stability of these regimes, which in turn may compel these rulers to offer some reform, to cede power to a new leader of their own choosing, or at least permit the revolutionary forces to regroup and rise up again.