Thursday, March 17, 2011
Intervention: Now What?
Andrew Exum, who knows more than most of us do about war, asks some very pointed questions about the coming intervention in Libya. [Incorrect link has now been fixed.] I realize that time was running short and the rebels were up against the ropes, but whatever else the international community may call it, they are entering the war in Libya. The don't-just-stand-there-do-something impulse has carried the day and while I share the sentiment that the rebels deserve support and protection, I worry that the objectives are still rather hazy and the precise goals unclear. Europe and the Arab world have been urging this intervention; let's hope they will play full roles in it. If Qadhafi can paint this as an American intervention, he wins the propaganda narrative, and the wave of Arab revolutionary fervor could be sidetracked. .
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3 comments:
The link goes somewhere else, not to Andrew Exum
The Obama Administration has played it right and resisted all the shrill political and media voices wanting to make this Obama vs Qadhafi. Instead, we have "led from behind" the scenes. We now have a strong U.N. resolution, Arab "leadership and participation" (how robust we shall see) and the French committed to shoot down, if necessary, some of those fighter aircraft they sold to the Libyans over the past decades.
Link is now fixed.
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