By Yasser El-Shimy
Best Defense Maghreb bureauDespite what American generals and defense officials have been telling us, Libya is not Lebanon (1982), Somalia (1992) or even Iraq (2003). The common concern voiced against U.S. participation in imposing a no-fly zone over Libya is the fear of “mission creep.” The concern is legitimate, but it does betray a lack of understanding of the situation in Libya. Unlike previous American military interventions, the local population in this case is quite willing to carry out the hard task of ground confrontations. Washington could help oust one of the most repressive autocratic regimes in the world without sending a single soldier to the battlefield. The Libyan rebels in Benghazi, Tobruk, Misrata and other liberated cities are ready and willing to fight Qaddafi’s forces, when they are supplied with weapons that can match Qaddafi’s. What is more, given the personality cult that is Qaddafi’s regime, if an airstrike could target him (and his inner circle), the regime would collapse before the dust has even settled.
Another common objection raised against intervention is the potential terrorist ties some of the rebels might have. Whilst we have no method of ascertaining every rebel’s affiliation at this point, we know that a lingering civil conflict in Libya (certain to happen if Qaddafi clings to power) would create ample ground for radicalization and extremist recruitment. Al Qaeda in Maghreb (AQM) would surely exploit the deep resentment and grievances among the revenge-seeking population. Leading an international mission to save civilian lives, and help moderate figures come to power may well help prevent this scenario from taking place. Under no circumstances, however, should U.S. or international troops have a mission on the ground, as this may turn Libyan society on itself, and may become a quagmire akin to Afghanistan’s.
The world needs to understand what is at stake in Libya. First, although hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians have perished at the hands of Qaddafi’s brigades and mercenaries so far, these numbers would pale in comparison with the expected massacres, should Qaddafi be allowed to prevail. The Tripoli-trenched dictator would exact ruthless retribution against Eastern Libyans for what he views as their treason. Qaddafi has already promised to “cleanse Libya house by house.” If the world decided to stand by while the unfair fight rages on now, they must be prepared to witness acts amounting to genocide on the sidelines later. An intervention then would be far more costly than it would be now, and unlikely to succeed.
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FTA above:
We have no idea what ANY rebels affiliation is!
Yet 41 years under his rule has not?
Again, we don’t know who the rebels are or how strong a Sharia they will want once Kaddafi is gone.
Would?
How do we know if they are not already among the rebels?
The EU, NATO and the Arab League could begin running a no-fly zone right now.
Why are they waiting on the USA?
Whenever a particular ”moderate” is picked out as the new leader by outsiders, some of the people in Libya will hate him.
We picked out a potential leader in Afghanistan and he was killed.
I oppose sending our planes and pilots to be shot at by both sides, as would happen at the cost of $1/2 million a sortie.
Simply telling the EU, NATO and the Arabs to ”go ahead, if they want to,” should be sufficient.
If Gaddafi goes we will see a Sharia state in his place.
We have one in Afghanistan, and that was with our boots on the ground!
We have one in Iraq, too.
We allowed a very corrupt Hamid Karzai to basically impose his own will. Afghanistan’s first problem is allowing Karzai to even live.
Comparing people in Libya to people in Afgahanistan is total apples and oranges. I’ll post up some pics from villages in Astan later. It could be the 1700’s in some villages. Most people in Afgahanistan have no clue about what freedom could actually bring.
The people in Libya actually understand there is a whole ‘nother world available to them if they can kill the ahole who sucks the economic life out of their country.
Me personally, I would love to lob about 6 cruise missiles into the building Gadaffi turned into a shrine to his daughter. Just turn it to dust.
@cml in maine:
cml in maine,
He was NOT the potential Afghani leader I meant.
It was the other guy, before him.
The guy who was killed.
Name escapes me.
As bad as Karzai is he allowed a convert from Islam to Christianity escape the clutches of his backward people.
He even ignored his own constitution which set up Sharia (including death to all coverts away from Islam) to get the guy out of Afghanistan.
If an American presence had not been there during the man’s arrest he would probably be dead now.