Obama takes the plunge
With the passage tonight of a robust U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a no-fly zone in Libya — and then some — Barack Obama has committed the United States to intervening in a Muslim country for the third time in a decade. Only this time, the resolution’s passage was a victory for the kind ...
With the passage tonight of a robust U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a no-fly zone in Libya -- and then some -- Barack Obama has committed the United States to intervening in a Muslim country for the third time in a decade.
Only this time, the resolution's passage was a victory for the kind of painstaking multilateral diplomacy that was so often scorned by his predecessor, who preferred to work with "coalitions of the willing" and dismissed the United Nations as ineffective, weak, and morally questionable.
Of course, there's no guarantee that a piece of paper will succeeding in protecting the thousands of Libyans cheering in Benghazi's main square from Qaddafi's forces, which are gathering some 100 miles away outside the besieged town of Ajdabiya and have completely surrounded Misrata. What needs to happen now is swift military action against Qaddafi's heavy weapons -- call it a "no-drive zone," and perhaps even the bombing of his compound in Tripoli. Are Britain and France, which have taken the lead in pushing for military action, up to the challenge? Or will the U.S. once again be called upon to clean up a nearby mess Europe couldn't solve on its own? We'll soon find out.
With the passage tonight of a robust U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a no-fly zone in Libya — and then some — Barack Obama has committed the United States to intervening in a Muslim country for the third time in a decade.
Only this time, the resolution’s passage was a victory for the kind of painstaking multilateral diplomacy that was so often scorned by his predecessor, who preferred to work with "coalitions of the willing" and dismissed the United Nations as ineffective, weak, and morally questionable.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that a piece of paper will succeeding in protecting the thousands of Libyans cheering in Benghazi’s main square from Qaddafi’s forces, which are gathering some 100 miles away outside the besieged town of Ajdabiya and have completely surrounded Misrata. What needs to happen now is swift military action against Qaddafi’s heavy weapons — call it a "no-drive zone," and perhaps even the bombing of his compound in Tripoli. Are Britain and France, which have taken the lead in pushing for military action, up to the challenge? Or will the U.S. once again be called upon to clean up a nearby mess Europe couldn’t solve on its own? We’ll soon find out.
One thought: It is amazing, and altogether incredible, that an uprising that began as peaceful protests calling for the release of political prisoners has made it this far, just as it is unfortunate that Qaddafi’s horrific use of violence has forced the international community to intervene. But if such is the price of saving the Arab revolutions, so be it.
The world now has to win this fight. As NATO Secretary-General Fogh Rasmussen put it earlier today, "If Gadaffi prevails it will send a clear signal that violence pays."
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