Multiple news outlets are reporting that Libya has declared an immediate cease-fire in response to the United Nations resolution authorizing “all necessary measures” to stop the violence. This means only one thing: the whack a mole game has officially begun.

Qadhafi will now pose as the victim of foreign intervention while at the same time trying to consolidate control of the oil ports and pipelines. The UN intervention will freeze the situation and split Libya into warring camps fighting a protracted civil war, which will fuel Islamist and tribal networks. This could quickly become Somalia on steroids.