The killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. Special Forces will likely have a powerful psychological impact on Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, according to the British chief of armed forces

General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defense Staff, said bin Laden’s death may lead Gaddafi and other despots to realize one day their deeds will catch up with them.

UK military officials estimate the several weeks or air strikes on Libya has destroyed about 75 percent of Gaddafi’s military capability.

We estimate that he has around 30 per cent of his ground forces capability remaining, a British official told the Daily Telegraph.

Sir David also described the killing of bin Laden as definitely a positive as far as the Middle East is concerned.

[The killing of bin Laden] is psychologically very important in the context of Libya and other crises in the Middle East, so I think it is a psychological impact rather than a short-term impact, he said.

Thus far, NATO and western officials have denied that they are targeting Gaddafi for death (an accusation already made by Russian president Vladimir Putin, among others).

The British Defense Secretary, Liam Fox, recently admitted, however, that the rocket launches on Libya are expected to increase the psychological pressure on Gaddafi.

Indeed, air strikes by NATO have already killed one of Gaddafi’s sons.

Ironically, during the outset of the revolt in Libya, Gaddafi blamed bin Laden, among other foreign figures, for the unrest in his country.

Moreover, according to a report in The Christian Science Monitor, Libyan rebels and others are calling for the western military forces to kill Gaddafi, as they did with bin Laden.

We are very happy and we are waiting for the next step. We want the Americans to do the same to Gaddafi, said rebel military spokesman Col. Ahmed Bani, according to CSM.

A female Libyan refugee told reporters: “America must do something to kill this man [Gaddafi], because he is killing all the people of Libya. All the people here are tired of Gaddafi. When will Gaddafi die? Why don’t the Americans kill him; you must kill him.”

Libya Libya Libya U.S.