Threats Continue, But Will US Attack Libya?

Sens Kerry, McCain Lead Calls for US Invasion of Libya

The Obama Administration is continuing to threaten military intervention in Libya, but as ever continues to say that they have yet to decide on if or how to do so. The administration, however, is facing growing calls to launch such an attack.

Not from inside Libya, of course, as the top factions in the rebel group have repeatedly and loudly spurned US offers of assistance, and the concern that US intervention would do far more damage to the rebels’ popular support than anything else remains a strong reason to oppose it.

But Sens. John Kerry (D – MA) and John McCain (R – AZ), both forever enthusiastic about starting new US wars, are leading the charge for attacking Libya, no matter how unwise, and President Obama, seemingly ambivalent on the matter, seems to be at serious risk of taking these calls as an excuse to pick a side.

At the same time, the big sticking point for the US occupation, beyond of course the two struggling occupations already ongoing, is NATO reluctance to go along with such a plan. Italy and Germany have both ruled out meddling in Libya, and Britain is still reeling from its humiliating weekend action. Can the administration really sell the public on a unilateral invasion, particularly with both sides of the fledgling civil war opposing that invasion? Only time will tell.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.