Max Boot on Libya.
This was predictable:
We cannot be content with the current stalemate, with Qaddafi holding Tripoli and most other cities while the rebels are ensconced in Benghazi and Tobruk in the east. We do not want to divide Libya indefinitely (unless its people vote to do so). Most of all, we do not want to get into a situation like that in Iraq between 1991 and 2003, when the United States had to devote considerable resources to maintaining a no-fly zone.The longer Qaddafi stays in power, the more suffering he can inflict on the people under his control, and the more mischief he can inflict on other countriesâ??including the United States. He has already threatened to retaliate against â??all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea.â? That is no idle threat, given that in the past he has been responsible for numerous acts of terrorism, including the midair bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988.
The only way this crisis will endâ??the only way we and our allies can achieve our objectives in Libyaâ??is to remove Qaddafi from power. Containment wonâ??t suffice. We must make â??rollbackâ? the international strategy.
That's Max Boot calling on the U.S. to "muster the will and resources to oust a dictator." Mind you, Boot is also a firm believer in mustering the will and resources to stay in Iraq for the long term. Oh, and Afghanistan too. Maybe there is an untapped wellspring of American resources he's discovered? If so, perhaps he should let the Treasury know. They could use it!
Equally predictably, Boot has nothing to say about what follows Gaddafi, who provides security for a post-Gaddafi Libya, who pays for that security or why any of this is of vital importance to the United States. Because, you know, that stuff's not important or anything.
