Libya: Next, the really hard part

COMMENT: The odds on hell breaking loose after any revolution are always high, and in Libya the pressure on NATO to prevent this will be intense. At the moment, Libya is only near "the end of the beginning," not the beginning of the end.
The National Transitional Council is mostly made up of former Gaddafi officials - including his justice minister. Who can be certain that they will survive in the long term after they move from Benghazi to Tripoli – their past history could return to haunt them. Rebels could split along tribal or east-west lines once victory euphoria passes and Gaddafi is either dead or clapped in irons.
As soon as the revolutionary euphoria wears off, unease could spread (as it has done to some degree in Egypt) that remnants of the old regime simply retreat to the shadows to bide their time and plot a comeback, perhaps even cutting deals with the NTC.
European governments have been excessively optimistic since the beginning in Libya, though they are sensibly avoiding any Bush-like "mission accomplished" hubris - Iraq remains a sobering specter.
Nothing will be certain until a peaceful, democratic Libyan government is put in place. But that will be at the end of a long, winding, and still unmapped, road.