Libyan rebels: better than Gaddafi?

[MannyGoldstein]

I'm a little puzzled here. We're starting another war, yet do we have any reason to believe that what we'll (possibly) end up with is better?

Do we have any reason to believe that this new, limited-for-now war will do anything but foster years of medium-level civil-war, until we either leave or commit ground forces?

"Doing something" is not the same as "improving the situation".

[Teaser]

1. Doing nothing is also doing something

.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JVS]

3. Bombs are the seeds from which peace will blossom.

I'm sure it will work this time.

[gateley]

4. We're starting another war? What did I miss here? The part where Obama said

we will NOT send troops into Libya?

Sheesh, Manny, sometimes I could just shake you. x(

[Kennah]

5. Advisors not Spec Ops; Police Action not War; Sweep and Clean not Search and Destroy

[David__77]

6. So if troops don't touch the ground it is not war?

If that's true, then let's universalize that principle. I'm sure under those conditions that all Gaddafi needed to do was ONLY bomb from the air, and then there'd by no war in Libya.

[joshcryer]

11. UN actions shouldn't be considered war imo.

[Egnever]

7. Trying to avoid mass murder doesnt require you to get anytthing more than that from it.

[PurityOfEssence]

8. I remember similar rationales during the Iranian Revolution of 1979

ANYTHING would be better than the Shah, right?

[ButterflyBlood]

9. Unless there was a war with Iraq from 1991-2003, we are not starting another war

That's all.

[joshcryer]

10. Almost all of the tribes have defected to the side of the revolutionaries.

There is an argument that the pro-Gaddafi tribes will be persecuted, especially because their belonging to his tribe create a status for them and they are effectively the "rich people" of Libya. However, given the treatment of pro-Gaddafi paramilitary groups we can see that the revolutionaries are treating them as best that can be expected, even after losing their own. (The hardest thing in war is to forgive those who have been shooting at you and it almost never happens perfectly, there are atrocities in all wars.)

There's also the factor that Gaddafi intentionally fomented racism within the Libyan population by hiring black African mercenaries and paying them to shoot indiscriminately upon Arab people. There have been reports of racist persecution because of this (you don't know who the enemy is but the mercenaries are a certain race, you are very suspicious of them). However, even in that case black Libyans have been treated cautiously (not necessarily respectfully).

Ultimately it depends on whether or not the unity that is being displayed by the tribes is a temporary thing or what. Given that at least a generation of tribes lived together under Gaddafi's force, making all tribes 'one' it may be that Gaddafi unintentionally created a unified nation that truly wishes his ouster and which will be better off for it.

There is no doubt however that Benghazi would be razed if it were not for the NFZ. It may still yet be razed if the NFZ is not implemented swiftly.