“Will the UN declare a no fly zone over Libya, or is non Western involvement the ticket? Will there even be a victory? Or will both sides content themselves with portions of control?”
I wrote that opening title and thought almost two weeks ago, much can change in the span of several international days. During that time I’ve read many editorials extolling both the merit and folly of US intervention and at the end of all this reading, sweating, and pondering I’m almost always left with one particular thought. Where is UN and Arab League leadership? The way I see it, European and Middle East involvement in Libya’s affairs is a no brainer, both altruism and Realpolitik work; dual reasons of humanitarian conservation and oil flow preservation are equally convincing propellants.
I wonder if Europe no longer believes in either altuism or Realpolitik?
Another thing I’ve thought about is how Libya truly exposes America as the backbone of the world. No other nation on the planet apparently has the resources or budget to fight for anything, Britain certainly doesn’t, last I heard they had one airplane and barely enough logistical support to get a handful of expatriates out of the country. Luckily they got their eight SAS members returned to them, which probably constituted the whole of their special forces community.
So here we are, reading about the stuff of rebel nightmares, an un-toppled tyrant resurgent. Col Gadhafi’s ultimate victory may very come to pass in Libya as UN security heads tremble in their security seats. Maybe I should have titled the blog
“Libya’s Long Shot”
Update: It appears that 8 hrs after I posted these thoughts, the UN, with 5 countries abstaining, approved a No Fly Zone over Libya…
mental grasp the other day, it was a pretty good thought. Something small and witty, that could have launched a thousand ships. I was driving home and said inside my head, “I’ll commit it to paper tomorrow.” So, here I am, two days later and I can’t resurrect it from my celebral sludge.
