On Tuesday, in an unannounced visit, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to Libya and made a stop in the capitol city of Tripoli to meet with National Transitional Council officials. The visit comes a day after Libyan rebels appeared to make progress in an assault on Bani Walid, the hometown of dictator Muammar Qaddafi. According to CNN's pool producer for Clinton's trip, "She was slated to meet with officials of the National Transitional Council and planned to offer U.S. medical assistance for those wounded in the fighting, according to a senior State Department official traveling with the secretary." According to The Washington Post, she'll be addressing a town hall style gathering and will focus on "how we set the table for a long-term, completely different partnership between the United States and Libya that is deep and broad," said a senior State Department official. Last month, Sen. John McCain led a delegation to the country that included Sens. Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham to meet with officials, tour a prison and offer encouragement for the rebels.

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Erik Hayden