"The Libyan rebel movement that controls the country's eastern half wants to install a parliamentary democracy across the country once they topple the regime of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, a top rebel official said Sunday. AP
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I suppose that a lot of people will simply refuse to believe the rebel spokesman. He is a lawyer from Benghazi. Most people in the US do not want to do anything to help the rebels in Libya. A variety of reasons for this are presented; money, unwillingness to inflict casualties deliberately or accidentally, indifference to MENA affairs except for Israel and oil, etc. In truth this is all about war weariness. The Bush Administration expended the emotional war making potential of the United States. The staffs can "roll up the maps" in the planning shops in the Pentagon. They will not be needed for a long time. One can say (tongue in cheek) that now is the time for Canada and Mexico to exercize whatever revanchist and irredentist inclinations toward the US that they may have.
Having said that, I can only hope that there is enough common sense left in the engaged portion of the American people that there will be continued support for NATO's military and diplomatic actions in Libya.
A stalemate in the rebellion, de facto partition of Libya, reconquest of the east by Qathafi, all these things would be perceived as defeat of the United States by the forces of reaction across the world. Perception is the greater part of reality in international politics.
Having supported the Libyan rebels rhetorically, President Obama has ventured the strategic capital of the United States in this matter. He should get his mind "in the game" enough to focus on that.
There is still time to do enough covertly or openly with our NATO allies to save the day in Libya. pl
