'Operation Mermaid Dawn' and the Battle for Tripoli

Sleeper cells. Air strikes. Double crossing. Mermaids.

So, this breakdown of how the Libyan rebels were able to overrun Tripoli in such a short amount of time is pretty fascinating, especially the questionable decision from NATO to name the whole shebang “Operation Mermaid Dawn.” Rebel sources say that planning for Tripoli began three months ago, when 150 young men from Tripoli headed to Benghazi to prepare for zero hour. These men returned to Tripoli disguised as fishermen (we suppose that's where the mermaid thing comes in, but wouldn't have something like “Operation Evil Slayer” been a lot cooler?), made up rebel sleeper cells, and when their allies approached the city gates, they caused chaos around the city to distract Gadhafi forces. Perhaps the biggest turning point, though, was when the officer in charge of Tripoli's city gates, Mohammed Eshkal, decided to let the rebels through without resistance as payback for a cousin slain by Gadhafi 20 years ago. From there, the rebels were able to rush into the city with NATO air support, and in less than two days, the capital had almost been entirely seized. We hate to get all "rah-rah war!!!" but this is history, and pretty darn bad-ass history at that.