With the recent missile strikes in Libya by allied forces, some people are becoming concerned Libya will become the next Iraq. This is unlikely, however.
For one thing, as the Associated Press observed, European forces are the leading allied group behind the military support of Libyan rebels.
Specifically, according to the AP, although “America unleashed the heavier firepower… Europe – to the surprise of some – was the driving force behind the assault on Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi. France, perhaps hoping to purge memories of a dictator-coddling past, fired the first strikes. Britain, still stinging from its release of the Libyan agent behind the Lockerbie plane bombing, cajoled other nations into joining.”
So first and foremost, Europe is the primary allied support, not the U.S. This sentiment is shared by the President, who according to The Envoy “…insisted that the United States’ lead military role will be turned over – in days, not weeks’ – to an international command of which the United States will be just one part.” Hopefully the President is being honest about that sentiment.
The support, for now at least, is just that: support for an existing resistance movement within the nation. Something that was lacking in Iraq.
So now America has a chance to show the world two things. First, we can demonstrate a willingness to be a supportive ally in a just cause, rather than the leading force in a controversial and uncalled for war.
Second, we can demonstrate to the Middle East America is more than an oil-hungry warmonger. America has long touted freedom and justice for all. Now is our chance to show the world we truly mean it.
Hopefully, our role will stay the way it is, or America’s involvement will diminish. In fact, it should diminish. We could even drop support. We’ve proven our point: we have a crap-ton of missiles, and we know how to use them. Point made. Can we worry about the economy now?
We have scientifically proven we have enough missiles to handle the despots of the Middle East. Now we can focus on more domestically-centered issues, issues which, sadly, cannot be solved by cruise missiles. Not yet, at least. Besides, there is no way America can afford a third war, and hopefully the President is smart enough to realize that and won’t escalate things.
America has spent too much money and resources meddling with the world to try and repair the mess left in the wake of the Cold War. It seems whenever we try to fix something, we make it worse. Reducing, or even eliminating, our foreign support will allow us a chance to fix our domestic issues. The simple idea to focus inward on solving our own problems rather than meddling with the world seems to elude the national government.
Perhaps it’s just not a viable tactic in the modern era. Nonetheless, we need to do something about our domestic issues, and deflecting concern about them by shooting someone else isn’t the way to do it.