Both the European Union and the United States have decided to impose sanctions against Libya, geared towards top officials and Gadhafi family members. The new measures break diplomatic relations, freeze top officials’ accounts, revoke visas, and ban arms sales to Libya.

Unless the standoff goes on for an extended period of time, this will do little to prevent Gadhafi from staging his desperate reign of terror. The country is already well stocked with weapons, and Gadhafi has at least enough currency on hand to hire the reported thousands of mercenaries (who come equipped with their own guns) bolstering his forces and terrorizing detractors.