THE defection of Libyan foreign minister Musa Kusa should have been a huge propaganda coup for the rebels seeking to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi.

But, at the same time as Mr Kusa was flying to London, the rebel alliance was retreating towards Benghazi – pushed back by Gaddafi’s forces once again.

It is becoming depressingly apparent that the rebel alliance does not have the capability to oust Gaddafi.

Bombing Tripoli will not win this civil war when the rebel “soldiers” on the ground are a ragtag collection of civilians armed with whatever they can find.

They have no infantry training, no knowledge of using modern weaponry and no workable command structure.

The rebels are pitting courage and a just cause against a well-trained and well-provisioned army, bolstered by bloodthirsty mercenaries. Even with allied air power this is not a fair fight.

Arming the rebels is only part of the solution. Modern weapons systems are useless without the technicians capable of using them. The rebels need training and organisation. The only way to do that is to put soldiers on the ground. Also, there is no meaningful government-in-waiting ready to run Libya should Gaddafi flee.

The fear in the West must be that al Qaida will step in to fill the vaccum if Gaddafi’s regime collapses. If this conflict is to end soon Nato will have to do much more than drop bombs from 30,000ft. Does it have the will?