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Why can't we just let the Libyans fight it out (...and then make friends with the winners)
The Daily Mail ^ | March 20, 2011 | Peter Hitchens

Posted on 03/20/2011 4:13:01 AM PDT by Scanian

Politics seems to have become a sort of mental illness. We have no bloody business in Libya, and no idea what we hope to achieve there.

We are daily told that we have no money to spare. We have just scrapped a large part of our Navy.

Our Army is stuck in an Afghan war whose point nobody can explain. And now we have set out on a course that could drag us into a long, gory brawl in North Africa.

And yet, when the Prime Minister announces this folly he is praised. Why? Partly it is because we all watch too much TV. Its reports simplify, then exaggerate.

Reporters, much like politicians, like to feel they are helping to make history, and get excited by subjects they knew nothing about until last Wednesday.

Before we know where we are, we are taking sides in quarrels we don’t understand. Who are the Libyan rebels? What do they want? Why do we love them so?

I’ve no idea, and nor has Mr Cameron, as we discovered when he (yes, it was him, not poor William Hague) sent the SAS to see them and they were welcomed with pitchforks and mockery.

The only sensible policy in Libya is to wait and see who wins, and then make friends with them. If you think this heartless, you are of course right. Foreign policy is heartless. Nice countries end up being conquered or going bankrupt. But it may be no more heartless than our kindly interference.

I pray that this episode ends quickly and cleanly. Perhaps it will. But we cannot know. What if our humanitarian bombs and missiles accidentally kill women and children (which is almost certain)? What if air attacks and distant shelling fail to stop Gaddafi’s forces?

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: cameron; gaddafi; interference; libya
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To: JaneNC

it has come to light that al queda is behind the uprising....do you remember iran, 1979??? this truly is carters second term


41 posted on 03/20/2011 4:54:58 AM PDT by joe fonebone (Project Gunwalker, this will make watergate look like the warm up band......)
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To: Sarah-bot

Killing, fighting or whatever you want to call it with borrowed money?

No more.


42 posted on 03/20/2011 4:55:15 AM PDT by Scanian (i)
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To: Scanian

Has NBC called this a civil war?


43 posted on 03/20/2011 4:55:42 AM PDT by texanyankee
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To: armymarinemom

Sounds good, but the problem is that you are full of it. It is time to start fighting this war, and stop pretending it does not exist.


44 posted on 03/20/2011 4:56:45 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: indylindy

Amen!


45 posted on 03/20/2011 4:57:57 AM PDT by wita
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To: Scanian

The problem is that we have not been enjoying the spoils of war. Sun Tzu understood that you can not win a war by transporting material long distances. Bush made the mistake of not taxing Iraq of its oil. If we would have been taking Iraq’s oil all this time we would not be in the position we are in today.


46 posted on 03/20/2011 5:01:07 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: Sarah-bot
Yeah, and I'm okay with that. I truly am.

But Bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. Some Muslims are pirates who hate free people. Some Muslims plant IEDs. Not all Muslims are pirates or people who plant IEDs. There should not be a collective guilt. It's simply not logical.

Think of it this way. Some white people were Nazis, but not all white people were. Some white people were in the KKK, but not all white people were.

Those who foment hate, like al Qaeda, love it when they can provoke us to buy into the same division as they do.

I see plenty of principled reasons to oppose what was done in Iraq (the US Constitution, the fear of the cost, and other valid considerations). I don't agree that all Muslims should be dead is a valid or moral argument. Nor, do I think anyone has the resources for that.

47 posted on 03/20/2011 5:03:42 AM PDT by elhombrelibre ("I'd rather be ruled by the Tea Party than the Democratic Party." Norman Podhoretz)
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To: elhombrelibre

Quran (2:191-193) - “And slay them(infidels) wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places ..... to make it victorious over all religions even though the infidels may resist.”


48 posted on 03/20/2011 5:04:48 AM PDT by Scanian (i)
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To: Scanian

There has been many crusades,
Before this is over we may have to have another.
Drive the “religion of peace” back to the sand pit hell where it belongs


49 posted on 03/20/2011 5:05:26 AM PDT by Joe Boucher ((FUBO) Obammy, the man is too small.)
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To: wita

Basically Hobbs was in favor of big government. He believed that the sovereign and the peasants worked as a team. He believed that they were one (leviathan). I believe that the peasants are as culpable as the sovereign because Hobbs is correct, to a point.


50 posted on 03/20/2011 5:06:12 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: indylindy
Libya is a civil war. If you can turn your back on Christians being murdered by Muslims in Dharfur, it is hard to make the phony case that genocide is more important when Muslims are killing each other.

Frankly, we have no idea who the rebels are. If they are MB backed, I won’t miss them.

--------------------------

Good points!

'Operation Arugula' (Zer0 does Al-Qaeda's dirty work - Can you say 'caliphate coalition'?)

Some of these rebels have helped to arm Al-Qaeda suicide bombers in Iraq. So we are helping these people to resume working for the most diabolical terrorist organization on earth? Is it possible we are helping the Brotherhood take over the Middle East?

Do What I Say Or You'll Be Sorry!
 General Barry Obama - Not!

51 posted on 03/20/2011 5:06:21 AM PDT by BobP (The piss-stream media - Never to be watched again in my house)
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To: Scanian
Why can't we just let the Libyans fight it out (...and then make friends with the winners)

Because that is about the poorest dog wagging that could be used.

It's poll positioning that is at work here!

52 posted on 03/20/2011 5:06:32 AM PDT by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
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To: DB
He's directly responsible for killing everyone on flight 103.

He's a terrorist that should pay with his life and be example to other would be terrorists what happens to those who go down that path.

Kill Gaddafi and get out. Libyans can do what they want with their country after he's dead be it peaceful or civil war. It's their blood to spend as they please. No more "nation building".

Since all of the above many things have happened:

Gaddafi volunteered to rid his WMD program requesting that UK come and get them. And they did.

Gaddafi has been part of the coalition against Al Qaeda

Gaddafi has been a target by Al Qaeda for more than a decade and much of his opposition which we are helping right now are probably tied to Al Qaeda.

Most recently ties between Libya and USA had warmed to renewing tourism and only months ago the USA once again started allowing tourism into Libya.

The cries of "help us" came from Iran yet somehow they were not heard and suddenly we are now bombing Gaddafi.

Those are the facts

53 posted on 03/20/2011 5:07:41 AM PDT by tsowellfan
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To: elhombrelibre

I tend to agree with you, but in order to kill the bad Muslims, like the bad German, we need to kill civilians. This is why I have been talking about Hobbs, and the leviathan.


54 posted on 03/20/2011 5:09:19 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: tsowellfan

We really are playing w fire w this. I guess according to the leftists “this is the right war at the right time”.


55 posted on 03/20/2011 5:11:48 AM PDT by GlockThe Vote (Who needs Al Queda to worry about when we have Obama?)
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To: GlockThe Vote

Glock what is the right war, and when? How is this not the right war.


56 posted on 03/20/2011 5:13:32 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: mewzilla

al-Megrahi’s Lamborghini

I’m kind of a Ferrari guy myself, although...

The classic end to the tale would be the Lambo with al-Megrahi inside, being gently pushed out the open cargo door of a C-130 over Lockerbie Scotland at whatever height the C-130 is able to reach. Maybe a C-17 would be better, but I don’t know if it has an aft door that can open in flight.

Don’t forget the camera chase planes and the TV copter for the visuals. Seated next to the bomber could be the judge who released him.


57 posted on 03/20/2011 5:14:07 AM PDT by wita
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To: Scanian

I agree with you and understand that there are hateful passages in the Koran that are used to justify violence by some Muslims. But it’s simply not true that all Muslims today adhere to every scripture in the Koran. This is one reason why al Qaeda kill more Muslims than it does “infidels.” Al Qaeda knos most Muslims do not buy into a religious war with all non Muslims.


58 posted on 03/20/2011 5:14:36 AM PDT by elhombrelibre ("I'd rather be ruled by the Tea Party than the Democratic Party." Norman Podhoretz)
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To: tsowellfan

I’m with you. I’m at loss to explain why suddenly it’s okay to bomb a country which hasn’t attacked us (at least, not in 20 years.)


59 posted on 03/20/2011 5:16:28 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady (Islam is as Islam does.)
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To: Sarah-bot

“I don’t believe that we are over extended. We can do a lot more killing. The problem is that we do not have the will power. Afghanistan and Iraq would have been over years ago if we had the will to kill. I say better them then our men.”

The sheer ignorance of your post is disgusting. Our military has been involved in two intense land wars for over a DECADE. Multiple lengthy deployments are the rule rather than the exception for our fighting men and women.
But hey, whats another war? Its not like its going to bother you or any of your loved ones is it.

As for having a “will to kill more,” tell me this keyboard commando, what does that mean exactly? Carpet bombing the countries? Free fire zones? Mass executions? And I trust YOU’LL be enlisting to help carry out those campaigns?
Not sure how? Try one of these links:

http://www.marines.com/#default
http://www.navy.com/
http://www.goarmy.com/
http://www.airforce.com/

In case you’ve forgotten those who are serving in those hellholes are doing their best to protect and defend not only ourselves here at home but the Iraqi and Afghani populaces. Your “kill’em all” policy is, not only stupid, but directly counter productive to those goals! And now you want to export those winning solutions to Libya?!? Yeah. Ok. No.


60 posted on 03/20/2011 5:17:26 AM PDT by KantianBurke (Echo Chambers are dull.)
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