Somewhere in Libya there is a dude with some f*&^%* up shades and a botched plastic surgery job humming the words to that Gap Band song from back in the day. Yes, "You Dropped A Bomb on Me", would be apropos for my man Muammar right about now.
Europe and the folks in the Arab League are saying enough. Gaddafi's people have risen up against him, and damn near everyone in the Arab world has agreed that he has to go.
There is now a 600 -plus- square mile no fly zone over Libya, and the French are showing that they can do more than just cook.
Of course, over on the right, the wingnuts are in an apoplectic state, because their hatred of O is so great and they cannot find enough missteps on his part to make political hay over this crisis. Over on Radio Rwanda it's comical to see how hard they are trying to come up with different ways that O has botched the Libyan crisis. Of course, to us sane folks watching all of this play out; there is none.
O has played this just right. American troops are not on the ground in Libya (not that we know of) and the A-merry-cans are off the coast of Libya offering logistical support as the French fly sorties over Libya. Gaddafi has reneged on his cease fire promise, declared a UN Security Council resolution invalid, and now it's Gap Band time.
To his credit, unlike another president who can be identified with just a letter, O did not go in unilaterally, he went to the UN and made sure that coalition forces acted together. Unlike the wingnuts who have been calling for the bombing of Libya by US forces from day one, (shocking)he has acted with restraint and has done a masterful dance on a diplomatic tightrope. So far. This, of course, comes with political risks for O. The left is not pleased, and who knows where this conflict will be a few months down the line? What if Gadaffi hangs on and drags this thing out? What if there is a civil war raging in Libya a year from now? What then?
But could the US have stood by and watch the slaughter of a half a million people take place in Benghazi , while the French, British, and others act? I don't think so.
The truth is, no one really knows the political end- game in Libya. And, if they say that they do, they are lying. Who will take over once Gaddafi is gone? There are a lot of tribes in Libya; who will keep the peace? As is often the case in the Middle East, these answers will not come easy.
So, as I write this, there are American troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, like all of you reading this, I am hoping that wars don't come in threes.
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