Bomb Libya or Lose the World!

It makes me a bit uneasy when I hear denizens of the United States making fun of a foreign leader for saying something stupid. Sure, they might deserve it, but it often seems hypocritical and at least bordering on bullying.

I think back to 2003 and Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf a.k.a. Baghdad Bob. High on the thrill of a war for freedom and democracy, pundits filled pages and screen ridiculing him for making obviously false statements such as U.S. troops were committing suicide en masse even as the U.S. was successfully taking over Iraq.

At the same time, these same people had no problem with George W. Bush making hilarious statements about how the U.S. was not an empire because some troops were returning to the U.S.

So with that caveat aside, I was amused Muammar Gaddafi’s recent comments blaming al-Qaeda, along with drugs, for the evil revolt in Libya.

Isn’t he supposed to blaming America, the Great Satan and blood sucking vulture of the world? When did Osama bin Laden become the face of evil in that part of the world?

Could it be that Americans wasting so much time on social media is finally starting to pay off for the world? Maybe we aren’t very good at running other countries anymore.

Well, no. As much as I would like to be optimistic, I suspect that the Gaddafi was trying to do was rekindle western support, however great the odds against this are. Or maybe he is delusional. (Calling the leaders of other countries “crazy” or “delusional” for acting in a way that the U.S. does not approve of, but which is rational, is another pet peeve of mine. But perhaps he is irrational.)

All that said, if we Americans are to make sure we that we remain on top of the world, we had better hurry up and pull off a successful intervention in Libya that we get credit for. Sending weapons via Saudi Arabia has a certain Iran-Contra quality to it, but it might not be enough. Reagan never could take credit for that and, even today, the ungrateful likes of Oliver North do not give Iran proper credit for helping us to win the Cold War. I favor relentless bombings and then, just as we did in Iraq, teaching the new Libyan government how to repress its people without creating a controversy.

The stakes are high. We are in the fourth quarter of sudden death overtime, and all of the money is on the table. If we act, we can show everyone that the earth stills revolves around the red, white and blue. If we fail, people in other countries might see themselves as legitimate human beings.