... aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
, from the vaporous Arab League to NATO -- spoke from the same script Tuesday in forcefully calling for Libya's Muammar Qadaffy to step down. Some even hinted at secret talks on Qadaffy's exit.
US Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another William Jennings Bryan...
and British Foreign Secretary William Hague led the crisis talks in London between 40 countries and institutions, all seeking an endgame aimed at halting Qadaffy's bloody onslaught against Libya's people.
Although the NATO-led
"Qadaffy has lost the legitimacy to lead, so we believe he must go. We're working with the international community to try to achieve that outcome," Clinton told news hounds.
As she spoke, US officials announced that American ships and submarines in the Mediterranean had unleashed a barrage of cruise missiles at Libyan missile storage facilities in the Tripoli area late Monday and early Tuesday -- the heaviest attack in days.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle echoed Clinton's point.
"One thing is quite clear and has to be made very clear to Qadaffy: His time is over. He must go," Westerwelle said. "We must destroy his illusion that there is a way back to business as usual if he manages to cling to power."
Both Clinton and the representatives of Libya's opposition -- who held a raft of talks on the margins of the London summit -- acknowledged there were few signs that Qadaffy is heeding those demands. There was no immediate comment from Russia, which abstained in the UN vote authorizing the no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians.
"He will have to make a decision," Clinton said. "And that decision, so far as we're aware, has not yet been made." Diplomats rejected suggestions that Qadaffy could be granted immunity if he accepted the call to retreat but said work was under way to find a possible sanctuary for him.