I would like to join in the party slamming President I-Won EmptyArmani’s apparent indecision on Libya, but two things prevent me from doing so.
The first is that it is emblematic of his reaction to every other consequential event that has happened on his watch.
The second is that I have plenty of reservations about getting involved.
1. It is undoubtedly a civil war.
I admit, this reservation is purely a selfish one. I consider this, and I always think of the “special” things I would want to inflict upon an opportunistic interloper who had the nerve to intervene in an internecine conflict here.
2. Who benefits?
I’m sure that there are those who say that this is about the Libyan people wanting freedom. However, if the Muslim Brotherhood has really fomented this the same way that they have in the other nations in the Middle East, then freedom is what drives the cannon fodder, but they are being used by people with a larger agenda that doesn’t include freedom at all. A middle east that is ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood is not our friend, and fighting their battles for them would only make us suckers.
3. I can’t forget this:
This is the triumphant return of Pan Am 103 bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, released by the Brits after serving only 8 years of a 27 year sentence for his role in killing 270 people aboard the airliner in 1988. This “terminally ill” man was released as a compassionate gesture. All those people in the bottom of the photo? Those are Libyans, celebrating the return of this “hero” to his native shores. Now Libyans want Americans to risk their lives to help them because after decades of rule by a crazed brutish dictator, they claim to have figured out that he is a crazed brutish dictator. I really don’t feel like we have a dog in this hunt, and I think that when it was just two years ago that they celebrated someone convicted in the wanton murder of 270 people many of them Americans, they can fight their own battle. Especially when there are billion$ of reason$ for them to settle the matter without our assistance. I’m a Christian, not a sucker. And I don’t much care for ingrates, either.
Taxes, Stupidity, and Death 
No, we don’t “have a dog in this hunt.” Not in the political sense. But there are other players on the field who do…and we might have an interest in muzzling their “dogs.” From a practical perspective, the matter is unsettled…and unsettling.
The Middle East is a quagmire no matter how you view it: abysmally poor, possessed of a single resource, hagridden by the pseudo-religious ambitions of a bloodthirsty seventh-century voluptuary, riven by every imaginable kind of madness and strife. We really ought to have tight-quarantined it long ago. But we didn’t. Our reluctance to shut it off from the rest of civilization is now leading us into thickets we’ll shortly regret to have entered.
Excellent perceptions.
Let’s be real this is what everyone said falsely Iraq was about. O-I-L.
The Euros get over 80% of their oil from Libya and countries like Italy and France have big investments there. I don’t think that equates in any manner to any ones reality based views on Iraq.
This about oil and €’s for Europeans and their slinky willingness to gamble the UN worldview against a better candidate for one world dominion.
My bad…Euros consume 80+% of Libyan production…Libya is however the #2 source for EU oil
I keep asking myself, “Who are the “rebels”?
One thing is fer sure, No matter what we do or don’t do we’re going to be blamed. I did see something that struck my sick mind as funny, it was Dinnerjacket saying in a interview that it was wrong for the Libyans to be using tanks, planes, and bullets to quell the rebellion.
We are in a period where the best thing that the U.S. might have to offer (if we are not directly affected by either an attack directly on our homeland or on our citizens abroad) is leadership. As we have unfortunately discovered, much to our misfortune, this particular commodity is severely lacking in regard to this particular administration.
Perhaps there might be some slight advantage to us weighing in on Libya, but at this point I would agree that keeping our distance is the best policy, considering that our ship of state has no one at the helm and the rudder is fluctuating wildly.
And so it begins with French fighter sorties over Bengazi
yeah BisW, those are pretty much my own feelings too. I saw them celebrate the arrival of that cancerous bastard who the Scots were “compassionate” enough to free.
I say, wall the entire shit hole in, through no fly zones, no drive zones across their borders, and no shipping zones. No one goes in, no one goes out….
just let them kill themselves off.
My concern is that we don’t know who we’re supporting. The President’s stated objective of “democracy in Libya” WILL require boots on the ground, which will be interesting considering the main opposition tribe is fundamentalist Salafi, which believes in Sharia law. Square peg, round hole.
Keeping it interesting, an al-Qaida ally- the Libyian Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)- is looking to get the band back together to fight Qadhafi… and apparently we’ll be helping them out.
If this thing gets any deeper, I fully expect Gates to resign in protest. When he said we’re doing this thing on the fly, it was a direct shot at the POTUS. SECDEF’s don’t take a shit without a handfull of plans from the Pentagon. Right now, the only thing in our grip is hairy, musty smelling, and seemingly flacid…
This lil’ conflict/get together does nothing but give Stinky more places to get combat experience.
I must say Dick, I liked your old avatar more…
BIC,
Here’s something worth mentioning one day. A piece of good news, if we ever could push the envirowackos, the greenie activists, and the dismal EPA out of the way. Did I mention Obama’s drilling domestic policies?
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/6933/US-Has-Earths-Largest-Energy-Resources