Intervention in Libya has shattered the neat little boxes into which the American Left and Right typically divides.
If you favor military intervention against the mad Colonel Gaddafi and his brood of looters, you are aligned with Hillary Clinton. And Paul Wolfowitz. And Joe Biden. And France. And John McCain. And Eliot Cohen. And John Kerry. And John Bolton. And Susan Rice. And Samantha Power. And Fareed Zakaria. And W. Patrick Lang. And Thomas P.M. Barnett…..
If you are against intervention in Libya, you stand alongside Robert Gates. And George Will. And Andrew Bacevich. And Andrew Sullivan. And Pat Buchanan. And Ron Paul. And Marc Lynch. And Glenn Greenwald. And Micheal Cohen. And Mattew Yglesias. And Andrew Exum…
Cognitive dissonance reigns. Several generations of American citizens who have been indoctrinated to substitute litmus tests for critical thought are now at sea without a compass or a map. Heh.
My view is pretty straightforward:
1. Libya, in and of itself, is not worth a rusty damn. If Libyans want to be ruled by quasi-demented religious cro-magnons, so be it. Sadly, they represent a moral improvement over Gaddafi. If Gaddafi’s successors sponsor terrorism agaist US interests we can declare war and destroy all of Libya in about three days.
2. I am not in favor of a formal “No fly Zone”. Too expensive. Send some F-16s and and F-18’s to shoot down a few MiG’s. Pilots as a rule are at least reasonably bright; the Libyans know their warplanes are obsolete and the pilots will stop flying ( except to flee Libya). Instead, I recommend giving military and humanitarian aid and professional military advice, if it is desired by the Libyan rebels.
3. Gaddafi has ample American blood between his fingers and he is in a jam. It is a good time for the US give circumstances a push so that he and his miserable clan die in a horrific way, possibly on live TV or youtube. His death will be a salutory lesson for others and also a measure of justice – a thing rare in the world.
4. Whatever happens, he US is not financially obligated to reconstruct Libya. Reconstructing Germany and Japan after WWII was not an act of altruism but of strategic self-interest. The Libyans have oil. Sell it for a reconstrction fund.
5. Obama was dragged unwillingly to the current policy and personally was ok with Gaddafi’s survival. The US has a lot of options to make life hard right now for Col. Gaddafi and President Obama has delayed taking any of them for as long as he possibly could.
What are your thoughts?
