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.
It seems like Obama has, wisely, decided to sit this one out.
Obama has referred the matter to the UN knowing full well that China and Russia will veto an attack, Thus, saving him the responsibility of a potential Rwanda moment by passing the blame to the rest of the world.
And GOOD FOR HIM. The Arab world always says it wants the West to leave them alone. Well now's a good time to start. The moment a civilian is killed by NATO the US will again be the "baby-killing imperialists out to steal oil." The US would be insane to wander into such a no-win situation.
Let the Egyptians save their revolutionary brothers, since they're right next door and have a huge army. Let's see if all this Arab unity stuff is just pure talk.
UN = US
Kerry, McCain…add Senator Lieberman to the list and you have a task force for "keeping Israel, the neighborhood bully, safe". And into another war in the Middle East we go if this task force has its way. But then who is going to keep America safe?
Ah, which master to serve…what a choice for our leaders today to have to make, those with a conscience left. If they don't serve Israel, they don't get elected; if they do, they betray their fellow Americans and continue to subsidize and sanction war crimes in our name.
Then there is the (failing) war goods economy and its apparatuses, our banking system and the rest of our shadow government which does not serve America or Americans.
What would it take to be united in putting "American First"?
Ghadaffi is basically going for broke here. He's unleashing his tanks, troops and air force in far larger numbers these days.
He knows that there is growing pressure in some quarters for a US air attack and so if he's going to win this war outright he HAS to do it now, before any bombs fall and before any SAMs and anti-tank rockets reach the rebels.
The regime isn't likely to ever be stronger in this war than it is right now.
This what is called Libyan Council is not the voice of Libyan people but rather a Sharia Islamist group whom are after power in North Africa.., therefore US don’t dare to attack Libya knowing they have to support the movement. Is wise if EU would do the same thing and refer everything to UN to be solved.
Isn't Qaddafi the one saying that and not the Libyan people?
The multinational rich nobility rule the U.S., always have, so why is this author ignoring that fact completely?
He's ignoring it because it isn't so. The beneficent oligarchy that used to rule were immigrants and their descendants, not multinationals. Moreover, they did not go to AIPAC for election contributions or put Israel first.
When it comes to war and the prospect of stealing oil, nothing is out of the real of possibility for the Empire when it comes to that.
McCain – a lousy Navy pilot; a womanizer; a sleazy politician; obviously senile and insane.
Kerry – another nut case – send him to Vietnam.
Both are totally nuts!
Time for Obama to tell both to go to HELL!
If they had the troops and the logisitics to pull it off, they would have already invaded in my opinion.
I'm sure there's more than one General/PowerPoint Ranger who wants to grab a riding crop and pretend he's Rommel. Militarily we're stretched pretty thin already. Logisitcally it will be difficult, as I doubt anyone in the region like Malta, Egypt, Tunisia, or Algeria would allow us to use their countries as a staging area. You would have to take one of Libya's port cities and secure a logistical network through it and out into the Sahara. Libya would be a graveyard for our machines. The Sahara is very unforgiving to things like tanks and helicopters.
While this is one of the better analyses I have seen on this movement toward the next war, a veritable sting of WSWS analysis reports (including this following fine one today by Ann Talbot) are the most valuable for anyone wishing to understand what's really going on.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/liby-m0…
However, even the fine WSWS reporting of this coming 'action' by the global Empire member states misses the clear evidence of an analogy between the Iraq Afpak wars started in the last decades based on the 1990's PNAC plan, and the "Gap" wars about to be started in this decade based on Thomas Barnett's "Pentagon's New Map" plan of 2004.
More later if there is interest.
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
Liberty over violent empire Party
to all… F@#$ Israel and AIPC and rest of the made apartheid regimes and supported dictatorial regimes in middle east and North Africa.., by US and EU.., what I am saying is the truth about the fact that Libyan Council is not the voice of entire Libyan people but rather those whom are after grabbing power in Libya.., look peoples uprising in Egypt and Tunisia and elsewhere is about democracy and peoples democratic rights, in Libya is about Allah O Akbar which is a voice from a religious dictatorial system shaping to reduce the peoples power.
(Edited for profanity.)
"Threats continue, But will US attack Libya"…
Why should we? What has Libya done to the USA?
Try to imagine this.."But will Mexico attack Libya"?
Sounds crazy right? Why would Mexico, a country in North America, attack another country, five or six thousand miles away, that hasn't done anything to them? And doesn't even want their "help"? Somehow this same logic just doesn't translate with Washington.
US secretary of States knows well that if that would be case.., for US and EU to attack Libya..,, like they did in Iraq, then they need to support the Alah O Akbar voice of a new religious dictatorial regime which would be worse then Khadafi, therefore they are not going to do it unless they are stupid enough as Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeled, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearl and the rest are.. Look.., if this council wanted to implement “peace” or democracy for that matter they would have negotiated when President Hugo Chavez offered, or when even Muammar Khadafi offered the peace talk.., yet they refused both times.. so what is left for them to do is to give up and start taking their head out of sand and look around you for peace and prosperity both in North African countries and in Middle East,, united people is the most strongest weapon there is. One of the reasons for US and EU and Israel being able to slave the Arab nations is for Arabs not being united, there is always a element in religious or dictatorial self centered and self served regimes that’s been able to divide people, that time is over.., 2011 is the time for peoples unity against tyrants, dictators, apartheid and falsified democrats-democracy.