It ain't over till it's over

Libyan rebels are poised to attack one of Gaddafi's remaining strongholds, saying today that surrender talks have collapsed. Rebels control most of Libya and are moving forward with setting up a new government, but they might hold off on declaring victory until Gaddafi is caught and his remaining strongholds are defeated. Gaddafi and his staunchest allies have been on the run since the fall of the capital late last month. Loyalists have entrenched themselves in several towns, including besieged Bani Walid, some 90 miles southeast of Tripoli. In other words, the war may be as good as won but it's still not over yet. Gaddafi's forces still control now-insignificant pockets of Libya, and if they stay, they can still grow in number and there could eventually be enough of them to take back Libya. This is similar to what happens if you don't finish off a course of antibiotics - even if your symptoms are gone, not all of the bacteria will be, and so you need to continue taking the antibiotics if you don't want the rest of the bacteria growing and in turn developing a resistance to the antibiotics.