However:
• We do NOT want them (whoever they style themselves to be, now or ever) rolling out the red carpet for every terrorist and stateless Anti-American thug on earth.
• We do not want them aiding or abetting our avowed enemies (not now or ever)
• We want cooperation in our WOT and recognition of Israel
• Etc.
Kind of like the “deal” we made with Karzai in Afghanistan. Remember all those promises of being a “new kind of Islamic leader...” and whaddayaknow... he’s gotten rather chummy with the Taliban (and even threatened to join them) for quite some time. Let’s say a prospective regime representative promises all the demands you list below. How is that policed? Who holds them to the agreement? With, as you said, no boots on the ground, what’s the mechanism for accountability?
Also, how is American blood off the table if we’re going to be engaging in no-fly zones and air strikes? What’s the next step when all that air superiority fails to rein in Gaddafi’s troops?
It doesn’t matter if we have the baddest mo-fo force in the world if, once our troops are thrown into the fray on the ground (mission creep happens in spite of the best-laid plans), their hands are tied with overly stringent ROEs. Remember who’s sitting in the White House — we’re not talking about a shining example of a commander-in-chief here.
Also, under who’s flag would our troops be operating? Does “citizen of the world” Obama give you the warm-and-fuzzy that our troops would NOT be subordinated to UN control?
Thanks, but no. Time to hand off to someone else more affected by events in Libya. It’s not our fight.