Despite recent predictions made by President Obama that Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi would be soon step down and that his regime would collapse on its own, even members within Obama's own adminstration suggested otherwise.  In fact, Admiral Mike Mullen-- the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-- testified to Congress today that, although pro-Qaddafi forces were operating "at about 20 to 25 percent" as a result of American intervention, "that does not mean he's about to break from a military standpoint, because that's not the case."

And despite government forces significantly degraded, they are still capable of producing 10 times the firepower that the rebels are.  Moreover, yesterday, MSNBC's chief foreign correspondant Richard Engel reported that he witnessed rebels not only running away from a hopping mortar after they failed to secure the mortar to the ground before firing it but also firing a rocket launcher in the wrong direction at a civilian town rather than Qaddafi soldiers.

Already, Obama's aggressive claims that Qaddafi's "days are numbered" seem far too optimistic, and it will almost certainly hurt him further in the polls, where more Americans already oppose America's involvement in Libya than approve-- 47% to 41%, according to a Quinnipiac poll released just Wednesday.