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The 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi appeared on the verge of collapse Monday, with rebel supporters making it to the same Tripoli square where regime loyalists had congregated for month.

But in a possible indication that the fight is not over, celebrations in Tripoli's Green Square gave way to tension Monday after rebels told CNN that they'd heard Gadhafi army forces were heading their way. CNN could not confirm any movement of Gadhafi forces.

Here are some of the latest developments of the fighting in Tripoli, the latest installment of battles in a months-long uprising in Libya.

[Updated at 8:22 p.m. ET, 2:22 a.m. Tuesday in Libya] More information about tonight's appearance in Tripoli of Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who rebels claimed was captured on Sunday:

Video showed Saif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and a top official in his regime, shaking hands and greeting supporters overnight while leaning outside of a car in his armored convoy on the streets of Tripoli. He told reporters that supporters of his father Moammar Gadhafi's government "have broken the spines of those rats and those gangsters" - referring to rebel fighters who entered the capital over the weekend.

He said that on Tuesday the government's forces "will reassure the people that things are fine in Tripoli."

Asked about his being wanted by the International Criminal Court - which has issued a warrant for his arrest for his alleged participation in "crimes against humanity" - Saif al-Islam Gadhafi said, "To hell with the ICC."

Rebels had claimed that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and two of his brothers were captured on Sunday and Monday. But Saif is free, and one of the other two, Mohammed Gadhafi, was reported to have escaped Monday, according to the Libyan ambassador to the United States.

[Updated at 8:06 p.m. ET, 2:06 a.m. Tuesday in Libya] More from Saif al-Islam Gadhafi's appearance outside Tripoli's Rixos Hotel, more than a day after rebels reported they captured him: Saif said that word about his supposed detention was a rebel trick, CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

Chance, who is with about 35 other journalists at the hotel, said an armored Land Cruiser pulled up to the hotel, and people were saying that Saif was inside. "It was just about to drive off, so I went up to it and I knocked on the window and said, 'Dr. Saif, Dr. Saif, can you open the door? We want to ... make sure it's you," Chance said.

"He opened the door, turned the lights on inside the back of this armored land cruiser, and it was indeed him. He was bearded, he looked quite thin. ... He told me that his father, Col. Gadhafi, remained in Tripoli. He said the whole family are in Tripoli."

Chance has posted this account of his encounter with Saif on Twitter: "Saif Gadhafi told me that he had been travelling around Tripoli in an armored convoy the whole time."

Earlier, Libya's ambassador to the United States told CNN that another of Gadhafi's sons, Mohammad Gadhafi, had escaped from rebel custody. The circumstances of the escape were unclear, said Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali, an NTC representative.

Rebels had said Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and Mohammad Gadhafi were among three of Moammar Gadhafi's sons that they had captured since Sunday.

[Updated at 7:40 p.m. ET, 1:40 a.m. Tuesday in Libya] Moammar Gadhafi's son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi – who reportedly was captured by rebel forces on Sunday – made an appearance at Tripoli's Rixos Hotel early Tuesday, CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

Saif appeared outside the hotel - one of the remaining hold-outs for Gadhafi loyalists - in a convoy of armored Land Cruisers. Chance said he spoke to Saif briefly and took a photo of him.

Saif said his father and the rest of the family were in Tripoli, and that the rebels had been "lured into a trap."

There was no immediate explanation from the National Transitional Council, the rebel leadership that had announced he was in custody on Sunday.

Earlier, Libya's ambassador to the United States told CNN that another of Gadhafi's sons, Mohammad Gadhafi, had escaped from rebel custody. The circumstances of the escape were unclear, said Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali, an NTC representative.

[Updated at 6:35 p.m. ET, 12:35 a.m. Tuesday in Libya] CNN's Matthew Chance reports says he and the roughly 35 other journalists in Tripoli's Rixos Hotel - where they are essentially trapped, with Gadhafi loyalists refusing to let them leave as fighting rages outside - are running out of ways to keep in contact with people elsewhere, including their own employers.

The hotel lost power hours ago, and the journalists - who have corralled themselves in the dark in a lobby on one of the upper floors - are running out of battery power for their phones and other equipment. Chance, whose own phones are dead, talked to CNN with a satellite phone lent by a Chinese television crew.

Gunfire could still be heard outside the hotel, which is abandoned besides the journalists and gunmen loyal to Gadhafi. Fighting also appeared to happening around Gadhafi's compound near the hotel, Chance said.

The journalists have found some canned food and bottled water in the hotel's storerooms and kitchen. "Hopefully we can ... negotiate some kind of exit from this hotel, because really we don't feel we're getting much in terms of an overall picture of what's happening in Tripoli."

He said they're trying to stay away from the gunmen in the hotel, some of whom were cocking their guns and telling the reporters that they're NATO spies.

[Updated at 6:21 p.m. ET, 12:21 a.m. Tuesday in Libya] Gadhafi's forces fired at least three missiles at the rebel-held city of Misrata, east of Tripoli, on Monday evening, the NATO alliance reported. NATO said it had no reports of damage or injuries, but called the launches a "direct threat to innocent people."

"Although the surface-to-surface missiles in Gadhafi's arsenal are highly inaccurate, and are not designed to hit a specific target, they are a weapon of terror," NATO said. "Their use against an urban or industrial area is utterly irresponsible."

[Updated at 5:50 p.m. ET, 11:50 p.m. in Libya] Mohammed Gadhafi - one of the three sons of the longtime Libyan leader who had been captured by rebel forces - has escaped, Libyan Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali told CNN.

The ambassador told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that after rebels found Mohammad Gadhafi at his home, he was allowed to stay there at his request. Later, Mohammad Gadhafi was "hijacked" by a different group, "maybe Gadhafi's forces," the ambassador said.

"We don't know the story how he was taken out from his house," he said.


[Updated at 5:02 p.m. ET, 11:02 p.m. in Libya] With rebels apparently on the verge of taking Tripoli, politicians in the United States and the United Kingdom are demanding that they extradite convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi when the rebels establish control over the country, CNN's Tim Lister reports.

There has been no formal response from the rebels' National Transitional Council, but one of its representatives has previously suggested that any decision on al-Megrahi's future would have to wait for an elected government in Libya. On the NTC's own timetable that would be almost two years away.

Al-Megrahi was released from the jail on compassionate grounds in 2009 after serving eight years of a 27-year sentence for his involvement in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. He is suffering from prostate cancer and at the time of his release was given just three months to live. But two years later he is still alive and was last known to be living in Tripoli, now largely under rebel control.

[Updated at 4:52 p.m. ET, 10:52 p.m. in Libya] The U.S. and NATO have been quietly talking to National Transitional Council officials for the last several weeks about securing Libya's remaining stockpiles of mustard gas and other weapons material in the event the Gadhafi regime fell, U.S. officials say, according to CNN's Barbara Starr.

"The opposition forces are being asked to keep track of what's going on" with both weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the regime's inventory of surface-to-air missiles, a NATO official said.

The official also confirmed that intelligence personnel from the U.S. and other countries have been in Libya in recent weeks to help maintain security at various sites, although he could not confirm Western personnel are currently at those locations. "Individual nations have folks on the ground," he said.

[Updated at 4:19 p.m. ET, 10:19 p.m. in Libya] U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke Monday about Libya and "agreed that the situation had reached a tipping point and that (Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi) needed to relinquish power once and for all," according to a statement from the White House.

"At the same time, they agreed to continue to work with allies and partners in the international community to protect the people of Libya and to support a peaceful transition to democracy," the statement said. "The prime minister joined the president in urging the (Libyan rebels') Transitional National Council to continue demonstrating its leadership by respecting the rights of the people of Libya, avoiding civilian casualties, protecting the institutions of the Libyan state, and pursuing a transition to democracy that is just and inclusive for all of the people of Libya."

[Updated at 3:18 p.m. ET, 9:18 p.m. in Libya] More from U.S. President Barack Obama's comments on Libya this afternoon: He stressed that the battle there "was not over yet," and called on Moammar Gadhafi to surrender and tell his supporters to lay down their arms.

"Although it's clear that Gadhafi's rule is over, he still has the opportunity to reduce further bloodshed," he said.


[Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET, 8:20 p.m. in Libya] The situation in Libya "is still very fluid," U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday.

"There remains a degree of uncertainty and there are still regime elements who pose a threat," he said in taped remarks. "But this much is clear. The Gadhafi regime is coming to an end and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people."

[Updated at 2:17 p.m. ET, 8:17 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Matthew Chance (@mchancecnn) tweets an update on his situation in the Rixos Hotel where fighting has been ongoing.

"On bright side, am with excellent group of journalists at #Rixos. We are feeling our way around corridors with candles. No power."

[Updated at 2:10 p.m. ET, 8:10 p.m. in Libya] The U.S. State Department is "focused like a laser" on the issue of getting funding to the rebels' National Transitional Council, department spokeswoman Victorial Nuland said Monday. Nuland did not specify how much money could be provided, but said it would go toward "humanitarian needs" and "maintenance of essential services."Nuland declined to detail any U.S. intelligence reporting on Gadhafi's whereabouts.

"Like you, we've noticed that he hasn't been seen in public in quite some time. ... If he is alive, the best thing he can do for his people is step down immediately and end this," she said.

Opposition forces had control of about 90% of Tripoli Monday, but fighting continued, Nuland said.

[Updated at 2:07 p.m. ET, 8:07 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Sara Sidner is reporting that rebels who were surprised at how quickly they were able to get into Tripoli are now turning their focus on how to secure the city.
"We're standing around today looking at each other wondering how did this happen so fast, even the rebels themselves," she said.

Now, the rebels say their focus is finding Moammar Gadhafi and the faces of his regime, Sidner reported.

"[The rebels believe that [Gadhafi] is somewhere in Tripol," Sidner said. "At a time like this when there's general chaos .... there are rumors going all over the place. They believe he is either in the city or very close to the city. So everyone is a little tense about exactly where he is."

Sidner said as the rebels work within the city they plan to start detaining people in an effort to start their own kind of justice system for those in Gadhafi's regime.

[Updated at 2:01 p.m. ET, 8:01 p.m. in Libya] The United Nations' top refugee official called Monday for the protection of foreigners in Tripoli and other areas where fighting is ongoing in Libya.

"It is crucial that humanitarian law prevails through these climactic moments and that foreigners - including refugees and migrant workers - are being fully and properly protected from harm," said Antonio Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees.

[Updated at 1:39 p.m. ET, 7:39 p.m. in Libya] President Barack Obama will meet with his National Security Council on Monday afternoon to discuss the situation in Libya, a White House official said.

[Updated at 1:28 p.m. ET, 7:28 p.m. in Libya] President Barack Obama will tape a statement on Libya at 2 p.m. ET, the White House announced Monday.

[Updated at 1:11 p.m. ET, 7:11 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Matthew Chance, who is inside the Rixos Hotel, said he and other journalists have barricaded themselves as gunmen roam the hotel.

"We're quite spooked," he said.

Libyan troops are keeping the reporters on lockdown, Chance said.

Chance had earlier reported that there was fresh and heavy gunfire outside the hotel, which is near the Gadhafi compound and one of the few remaining strongholds of the longtime leader of Libya.

[Updated at 1:08 p.m. ET, 7:08 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Sara Sidner reported that snipers were shooting from the rooftops near Green Square at “anyone that moved.”

"We moved out because … we don’t know exactly where those snipers are," she said.

Sidner, who moved towards a coastal road that brings supplies into Tripoli, said that the situation was still unstable in some areas.

"You never know when you're going to turn a corner and find a tank" in Tripoli, she added.

Rebels waived flags and shot into the air behind Sidner and she reported live on CNN.

[Updated at 12:48 p.m. ET, 6:48 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Matthew Chance tweets from the Rixos hotel as fighting rages on outside:

@mchancecnn: "It's no fun being stuck in one of #Gadhafi's few remaining strongholds. #Rixos gunmen now refusing to let us leave."
@mchancecnn: "Fierce battle under way near #Gadhafi compound. Huge explosions, heavy machine-gun fire. #Rixos getting hit by stray bullets."


[Updated at 12:34 p.m. ET, 6:34 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Matthew Chance is reporting that ferocious fighting has broken out near the Rixos Hotel where journalists are staying in Tripoli. Chance described hearing heavy explosions and artillery shelling.

"It is ongoing and it's not just a firefight, we're talking about heavy explosions," he said. "This is a huge, all-out battle for control."

Chance said the situation has gotten even more difficult for journalists as the generators are out of fuel and electricity is out at the hotel.

He said the symbolic nature of the hotel as well as the proximity to Gadhafi's compound is likely why the fighting is happening in that area specifically.

“While there are pockets of rebel control, this is one pocket which remains firmly in the hands of the Gadhafi loyalists," Chance said.

He tweeted: (@mchancecnn) "All electricity down, running low on food and water. Sitting at #Rixos in the dark as bullets fly outside."

He added, "Mood in Rixos much darker than before. Everyone really worried about what's going to happen to us."

[Updated at 12:24 p.m. ET, 6:24 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Matthew Chance reports there is intense fighting and gunfire near the Rixos Hotel where he and other international reporters are staying in Tripoli.

[Updated at 12:14 p.m. ET, 6:14 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Atika Shubert tweets about French President Nicolas Sarkozy's latest message to Libya's Gadhafi: @atika_cnn: Sarkozy's office urges Gadhafi troops to lay down arms and stop following the "criminal blindness" of their leader.#Libya

[Updated at 11:26 a.m. ET, 5:26 p.m. in Libya] United Nations officials have unsuccessfully tried to reach Moammar Gadhafi, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters Monday.

"We've been trying to get in touch with him, and I also myself tried to speak with him recently, but as you may expect and understand ... it has not been possible," Ban said, adding that he did not know Gadhafi's whereabouts.

The U.N. chief described events in Tripoli as "testimony to the courage and determination of the Libyan people to seek a free and democratic future."

"It is crucial now for the conflict to end with no further loss of life," he added.

Ban said he plans to hold an urgent high-level meeting this week to discuss the situation with several regional organizations, including the African Union, the League of Arab States and the European Union.

"This is a hopeful moment but also there are risks ahead. Now is the time for all Libyans to focus on national unity, reconciliation and inclusiveness," he said.

[Updated at 11:21 a.m. ET, 5:21 p.m. in Libya] Pentagon Spokesman Col. David Lapan says they believe leader Moammar Ghadafi is still in Libya.

"We do not have information he left the country," Lapan said.


[Updated at 11:21 a.m. ET, 5:21 p.m. in Libya] The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court spoke with authorities from the rebels' National Transitional Council Monday, the court said in a statement.

The council "explained the efforts to stabilize the situation in Tripoli," the statement said.

Future conversations with Libyan authorities will determine how cases will proceed against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi, the court said. The court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, issued arrest warrants for the men earlier this summer.

[Updated at 11:17 a.m. ET, 5:17 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Ivan Watson (@IvanCNN) tweets: Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu's office confirmed his plans to fly to Benghazi for meetings with TNC leadership Tuesday. #Libya #Turkey

[Updated at 11:08 a.m. ET, 5:08 p.m. in Libya] Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chair of Libya's transitional council, said he does not know where Moammar Gadhafi is but that they hope to find him alive and bring him to trial.

"I have no idea how he will defend himself against these crimes that he committed against the Libyan people and the world," he said. "The real moment of victory is when Ghadafi is captured."


A former Gadhafi interpreter told CNN that based on the nine years that he worked with the Libyan leader he expects him to fight until the end.

"I know he is not going to surrender," Abubaker Saad told CNN. " He is not the type to surrender."


[Updated at 11:01 a.m. ET, 5:01 p.m. in Libya] A Russian official urged NATO countries and forces on both sides battling in Libya Monday to follow international law and avoid harming civilians and infrastructure.

"We hope that restraining signals will be sent both to supporters of Moammar Gadhafi and the opposition forces by the states and international organizations that have influence over them," said Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ombudsman for human rights, democracy and rule of law.

[Updated at 10:52 a.m. ET, 4:52 p.m. in Libya] Egypt has recognized the National Transitional Council as the only political representative of the Libyan people, the state-owned MENA news agency of Egypt reported, citing a statement from Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel.



[Updated at 10:43 a.m. ET, 4:43 p.m. in Libya] Libyan rebels said Monday that they had taken control of the country's state television network. Rebel TV reported that rebels had taken control of the station. The Libyan state network was broadcasting a black screen.

[Updated at 10:25 a.m. ET, 4:25 p.m. in Libya] A senior State Department official tells CNN that, up until the last minutes before the rebel offensive on Tripoli began, senior Libyan officials close to Moammar Gadhafi were trying to reach out to the U.S. in a desperate attempt to stop the “inevitable.”

In a telephone interview from Cairo Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that, until Saturday night, six officials with whom the U.S. had previous contact were still trying to reach out to the Obama administration but were taking a “defiant” approach, saying they were ready to negotiate but it would not be about Gadhafi leaving.

“It hinted to us that there’s a sense of desperation,” Feltman, who leads State Department efforts on Libya and who was in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi over the weekend, said, “that they’re trying all channels to reach us, that the balance was tipping on behalf of the rebels or why would these people be so desperate to find us?”

“I think they were looking for a way to find a lifeline, buy time, to prevent what was then becoming inevitable, which was the uprising in Tripoli,” he said.

[Updated at 10:13 a.m. ET, 4:13 p.m. in Libya] CNN's Sara Sidner described the scene just outside the capital as rebels regroup before heading back into Tripoli: Rebels are on the outskirts of the capital and there are a lot of men walking around with guns and ammunition. There are pickup trucks with guns welded into them that continue to pour into the area.

"They’re all gathering to do something … we don’t know when its going to happen," Sidner said. "We expect they are going to try to go into the city and do a street-by-street sweep."

Sidner said there is a continuous stream of rebels continuing to come in from the west of the city. She added that rebels know coordination is key during this stage of the battle for Libya.

"A lot of these people don’t know each other," she said, noting many are just regular people. " They want to fight against the regime, but they have to do it in a coordinated way."

She added it was unclear where the coordination was coming from but there was clearly some kind of instructions being handed down.

As the battle rages on CNN's Nic Robertson and Paul Armstrong take a look at whether it is too early to celebrate a rebel triumph.

[Updated at 9:29 a.m. ET, 3:29 p.m. in Libya] Libyan rebels say they have detained a Libyan state television anchor who brandished a weapon on air and pledged to fight for Moammar Gadhafi.

Over the weekend, anchor Hala Misrati grabbed a handgun from the top of the anchor desk as news reports said that rebels were advancing toward the Libyan capital of Tripoli. She warned rebels trying to oust Gadhafi that staffers at government-run al-Libiyah would become martyrs if they had to.


[Updated at 9:24 a.m. ET, 3:24 p.m. in Libya] Rebel commanders told CNN's Sara Sidner they are working on a systematic and coordinated push to make sure they have control of the entire capital of Tripoli.

Sidner said that in Tripoli she is not seeing large number of pro-Gadhafi troops.

"Everyone was expecting thousands of members of Gadhafi's army to fortify where the stronghold and compound is," Sidner said.

Sidner said one rebel told her they were surprised to have not seen large tanks. People are wondering where the thousands of expected troops supporting Gadhafi are, or whether the "last stand" argument by Gadhafi was just an attempt to scare rebels.

[Updated at 9:19 a.m. ET, 3:19 p.m. in Libya] "The latest dramatic development of the Libyan conflict apparently shows that the power in this country will be handed over to the rebel forces very soon. We hope that this will put an end to the protracted intra-Libyan bloodshed, which brought so many woes and so much suffering to this country's population and caused serious damage to the national economy," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

[Updated at 9:12 a.m. ET, 3:12 p.m. in Libya] Rebels do not know whether Moammar Gadhafi is inside Libya, the head of the rebels' National Transitional Council said Monday.

"The real moment of victory is when Gadhafi is captured," Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the council's chairman, said.

[Updated at 9:09 a.m. ET, 3:09 p.m. in Libya] U.S. and NATO officials say they remain concerned that forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi in Tripoli still might be able to stage a last ditch attack aimed at Libyan civilians.

“If there is a last ditch effort we want to protect civilians,” said a senior NATO official speaking on condition of anonymity because of sensitive intelligence matters.

The official said NATO is watching closely for any sign of a massing of Libyan government forces, or moving of weapons such as rockets or artillery. Striking such targets in the heavily populated areas of Tripoli could be a difficult problem because rebel forces, civilians and loyalists are mixed in among the entire population, he said.


[Updated at 8:54 a.m. ET, 2:54 p.m. in Libya] The U.S. was able to spearhead the imminent collapse of Moammar Gaddfi's regime in Libya on the cheap, writes Mark Thompson on TIME.com, using NATO to handle most of the war-fighting burden. And NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen thinks the Libyan operation could act as a blueprint for a less U.S.-centric way of waging war. Read the TIME blog.


[Updated at 8:49a.m. ET, 2:49p.m. in Libya] CNN's Matthew Chance tweets from Libya: @mchancecnn: Power cut in #Rixos !! If generator goes here, we will be cut off from outside world
[Updated at 8:21 a.m. ET, 2:21 p.m. in Libya] Oil prices were mixed Monday as Moammar Gadhafi's regime appeared to be closer to tottering on the brink of defeat.

Brent oil, which is tied to the European market, dropped 1% to $107.55 a barrel, while U.S. crude prices rose more than 1% to $83.46 a barrel.

The disparity between the two prices is due to the fact that Brent will feel the more immediate impact from Libyan oil coming back online, whereas U.S. prices are more insulated. CNNMoney reports.

[Updated at 8:20 a.m. ET, 2:20 p.m. in Libya] The International Organization for Migration sent a boat to Tripoli Monday to evacuate stranded migrants in the Libyan capital. The boat, which can carry 300 people, left the Libyan city of Benghazi Monday morning, the organization said in a statement. It is scheduled to arrive in Tripoli Tuesday, the organization said.


[Updated at 8:10 a.m. ET, 2:10 p.m. in Libya] French President Nicolas Sarkozy sharply criticized Moammar Gadhafi Monday, saying the Libyan leader's calls to continue fighting were "desperate and irresponsible."

"While the developments of the military situation on the ground and the many defections taking place in (Gadhafi's) camp confirm that the end of Gadhafi and his regime is now inevitable and near, the president condemns in the strongest terms the desperate and irresponsible calls of Colonel Gadhafi to continue fighting at all costs," Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

[Updated at 8:03 a.m. ET, 2:03 p.m. in Libya] Rebels on Monday afternoon pulled back from an area near Green Square - which rebels are renaming Martyrs' Square - to coordinate some sort of offensive in the city, although it was not immediately clear what they were planning.

Gadhafi's regime remained in control of at least three sites in the city - a hospital, a military barracks and the Rixos hotel, where international journalists are staying, said Guma El-Gamaty, the Britain-based coordinator for the rebels' Transitional National Council.


[Updated at 7:56 a.m. ET, 1:56 p.m. in Libya] The Libyan Embassy in Damascus, Syria, declared Monday that it was siding with the rebels' Transitional National Council government.

"What is happening in Libya today is the re-writing of the history of this country all over again through a revolution that has been baptized by the blood of its youth, and history will not forgive those who do not participate or support this great event that will not be repeated in Libya's modern history," the ambassador and staff of the embassy said in a statement.











These wars are to distract us from how poorly our leaders have ran things at home. We are focused on what one hand is doing while we should be watching the other one that's reaching into our pocket.