Tag: libya

Libya Victory Portends Endless Intervention

NATO’s “victory” in Libya has sown many seeds of possible future calamity. But none is fraught with as much danger as providing a new “war on the cheap” model for Western nations that have fallen on hard economic times. Although the very real possibility of civil war, tribal conflict, or an Islamist state in Libya … Continue reading “Libya Victory Portends Endless Intervention”

Libya’s Other Victims Pick Up the Pieces

BANI WALID, Libya — Suleyman and Rasool have come to the University of Bani Walid, in western Libya. If they are lucky, they might find some chemistry notes and, perhaps, a computer that works. Unfortunately, it is not likely, since NATO reduced the campus to rubble. Saif al Islam — Moammar Gadhafi’s son and heir … Continue reading “Libya’s Other Victims Pick Up the Pieces”

Libya: Military Success Doesn’t Erase Moral Questions

Shortly after the first U.S. cruise missiles fell in Libya on March 19, 2011, signaling the start of the seven-month NATO campaign to “protect civilians” by dropping bombs on that country, I wrote that even if we reduced our moral standards to those of Osama bin Laden, the murder of even one Libyan in the … Continue reading “Libya: Military Success Doesn’t Erase Moral Questions”

After Gadhafi, Unease Rules

TRIPOLI – "The war is over and Gadhafi already buried. What else could we possibly ask for?" says Adnan Abdulrafiq at his busy street restaurant in Omar Mukhtar street in downtown Tripoli. But troubles may not have ended with the war. Abdulrafiq’s restaurant is just 50 meters from Martyrs square, the capital’s main gathering point. … Continue reading “After Gadhafi, Unease Rules”

What’s Next for US-Libyan Relations?

After Moammar Gadhafi’s demise, the future of Libya’s relationship with the United States remains uncertain. Libya ousted its longtime leader in essentially a civil war in which the U.S. and NATO backed one side. This is a stark contrast with the independent and largely nonviolent revolutionary processes that led to the ouster of dictators in … Continue reading “What’s Next for US-Libyan Relations?”

The Return of Barbarism

“We came, we saw, he died,” babbled our notoriously bloodthirsty Secretary of State as news of Moammar Gadhafi’s grisly murder hit the headlines. Throwing her arms up in a gesture of mock-triumph, she averred – perhaps sarcastically – that she was “sure” her recent visit to Tripoli had something to do with the Libyan dictator’s … Continue reading “The Return of Barbarism”

The Price of the Libya Intervention: Surface to Air Missiles for All

"In 1979, when Soviet troops swept into Afghanistan, an angry Jimmy Carter organized an unofficial alliance to give the Soviets ‘their Vietnam’ (which Afghanistan became)." — New York Times, 11/9/11 The writer of the above paragraph is Marvin Kalb, a former network correspondent, Harvard professor emeritus, co-author "Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford … Continue reading “The Price of the Libya Intervention: Surface to Air Missiles for All”

How an Empire Defines Victory

Seeing the end of the Gadhafi regime has somehow vindicated the war on Libya in many Americans’ minds, including some previously on the fence. This is a usual pattern: The U.S. goes to war, always with some lofty goal advertised, and the euphoria kicks in as soon as the regime is defeated. It happened throughout … Continue reading “How an Empire Defines Victory”