The Allies go in !

[green-man-2010.livejournal.com]

Pardon me for posting - but this is exciting news !!!

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/US-Allies-Attack-Libya-118304704.html

The airstrikes have gone in against Libya. For once, the UK, USa and the rest of the world seem to be doing the right thing. I was shocked when i heard that cameron had tried to get the SAS involved in Libya. I want to make it clear that I have never liked Gaddaffi , even if I had never posted on that subject until recently in this forum. Iin fact, i don't like the idea of any dictator oppressing their own people and getting backing from the business community to do so.

So, to herar that the Libyan rebels are getting air support and even air strikes against gaddaffian positions is welcome news.

I just hope it isn't too late. governments never do this sort of thing without wantng some kind of pay back. i still hope that there will be free elections in libya, and that this will mean more demands for freedom there and elsewhere and not a rolling back of freedom to secure ' national interests'.

ii don't want gaddaffi replaced by a puppet of UK or US choosing , I want the Libyans to be able to set their own course as a nation . And if that means that we in the west have to lower our dependence on foriegn oil, so be it.

but we must ask ourselves -
what is the UN for?
if we don't want the USA to be the world's policeman , who else is up for the job ?
how can the democratic voters in democratic nations secure the freedoms of everyone - for untill we are all free, no one really is.

I am overjoyed, not in the death and destruction that now rains down upon Gaddaffis henchmen, but the opportunity that this may open up for democracy and freedom in a land that has been denied it for so long. wee are going in on the terms asked, the only terms the libyan opposition wants. I hope that they will have enough space to build their own nation on their own terms as a result.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42164455/ns/world_news-mideast/n_africa/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12776418

Comments

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Excuse me. Why post two times about the same thing? I understand that this is important news but couldn't you just merge these two posts together? I somehow have the feeling that I am reding your personal blog.

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

*sigh* We really don't have the manpower for this.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

[green-man-2010.livejournal.com]

sorry, but the situation has now changed. we are not debating on wether or not we should get involved - we just did.

now, what happens next is anyone's guess.

if the gaddaffi regime collapses, graet - but who wiill most likely replace him if he goes?
will the Opposition just collapse when it comes to power or will they be an example and a beacon of hope to all other people around the world as well as the Middle east?
Will the mods delete this post ?
I dunno, but good night everyone . history, i think, is being made!

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

Next is, we'll debate what someone said about us getting involved.

Up next: what someone responded to them.

Etc.

I don't think anyone would touch this post. On the other hand our British Informative Agent green_man_2010(R) seems to be on a roll lately, which is always a promise for Interesting Times(TM)! :)

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

Yes, this is an excellent idea, because our country always benefits when we take military action against Middle Eastern nations. It's kind of like the logic that says that sticking your dick in a nest of hornets is a good thing, because their stings will swell up your weiner and make it even bigger to impress the ladies.

Fun quote from the L.A. Times: (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/sc-dc-0320-us-military-libya-20110319,0,7579064.story)

While President Obama has emphasized that American forces would play a subordinate role in enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya, the Pentagon said the U.S. had to lead the operation in its early days because it has the greatest capability to destroy Kadafi's air defenses, a key prerequisite to taking control of Libya's airspace.

Once that portion of the mission is accomplished, international partners led by France, the United Kingdom and Arab partners will enforce the no-fly zone, U.S. officials said.

In other words, we're only being expected to take charge of all this shit NOW, but once everything gets SETTLED, everyone ELSE will step in to take over the heavy lifting from us.

On the K-Box Index of Unbelievably Bullshit Claims, this hits the scale somewhere between when Steve Jobs was still insisting that he would only be the "Interim" CEO of Apple and college douchebros who tell girls they've just met at parties that they'll only put the HEAD in.

Pretty much this:

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

On the hypocrisy of the so-called "international community", and the blatant double standard in measuring similar situations in different places:

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Just some food for thought.

Re: Pretty much this:

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Also, this question (http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/936940.html?thread=72339436#t72339436) pretty much applies here too.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Pardon my cynicism, but where were the calls for intervention when Bahrain's autocrat asked in their fellow monarchs, the Saudis, to help them put down their revolt? Where were the calls of outrage, for that matter, back when Putin was bombing Grozny to rubble or when Armenia expelled 1 million Azeris from Azerbaijan or when the Russians were fighting in South Ossetia?

Instead the intervention, like in 1899 and 2003 is supposedly "benevolent" but in reality it's not a humanitarian venture. Never has been, never will be.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

now, what happens next is anyone's guess.

I'll reiterate this.

We cant rule out a full civil war after Gaddafi is gone. Without any functioning institutions to lean on, Libya looks more and more like an imminent black hole. And you'd have probably said you "dont care", had there not been so much at stake there to fight an endless war over. Want it or not, we'll all be made to care one way or another. I hope i'll turn out to be dead wrong at some point, but i generally dont believe in miracles.
(http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/918494.html)

Looks less and less likely that i'd turn out to be dead wrong. Quite sadly.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

Wow, Libya must be bad-ass if they have flying tanks.

Oh, "no-fly zone" was bullshit from day one, wasn't it? How is this not regular war?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Must be one of them "Po-lice actions.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

We must impose a no-fly zone! And attack tanks! And destroy fortified positions! But this isn't a war! It's just a no-fly zone. Good God this is one steaming pile of bullshit.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

No kidding. I hate it that this icon really *is* right on the money this time. >.<

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

Why don't we just land a battalion of Marines from the MEU and call it a "guided tour"?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

The full expeditionary force might even be called an "all-expenses paid trip to Tripoli". Can't call it a "war", people might think that'd be a bad idea.

[tridus.livejournal.com]

Now that icon is an awesomely winning combination of geekiness. Well done.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

I don't think that will be an issue in this case. If we do something where it is, well, we're really really really really dumb.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Because it'd cost you lives. Better stay in your submarines at sea and launch missiles from there indiscriminately. Then watch them hit targets on your fancy screens. It's so much fun! Looks almost like Pacman, kindasorta. Or maybe Super Mario.

You can even yell "Yee-haaaaw!" once you hit a 100 point bonus.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

And the concept of the mess created or that we'd have to fight and stick there afterward? That's always an issue for tomorrow, because it's not like we've ever been drawn into this once or twice before or our fancy explosions kill and/or mangle people. It's explosions fired from missiles, isn't that the plot of the average Michael Bay movie? Well, that and Megan Fox running in slow motion?

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

I'll take Really, Really, Really, Really Dumb for $500, Alex.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Not just missiles. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0)

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

"I am overjoyed, not in the death and destruction that now rains down upon Gaddaffis henchmen..."

I agree with your post except for this part. I'm overjoyed these f*ckers are getting what they richly deserve.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

People in my country treat war and the meatpacking industry much the same. We like winning wars and watching other people fight them just like we like minute steaks and the occasional rib-eye. The process that goes into *making* those things happen, OTOH, is nasty, brutish, and often depressing to read about and we can't have *that* in our shiny happy land o' the free and home o' the brave. Hence why this video, which should surprise no-one the least bit informed about how US soldiers fight wars in real life becomes a target of opprobrium for noting reality as it is, and hence why we want video-game war and neglect the reality of the situation, always violent, bloody, and messy and seldom having any real options at the end or the beginning to make everything worthwhile.

[ccr1138.livejournal.com]

I DO NOT WANT the USA to be the world's policeman. Nobody thanks us for the interference, and half the time what we do has horrible unforseen consequences.

BUT, the UN is so ineffectual, if we don't step in, who will?

It's a conundrum.