28043877
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad March is over. I confess I grew a little tired of people telling me “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” The lamb never showed up. Maybe the lamb went into hiding after our Nobel Peace Prize winner got us involved in another conflict.
Once again we are “saving lives,” this time in Libya. Using the low estimates, one million Vietnamese in our intervention in Vietnam; 1.5 million Iraqis have died as a result of our invasion into Iraq; and four million Afghans have perished thus far since we went into Afghanistan. I figure if you subtract the casualty estimates from the total populations in these countries, you can calculate how many lives we saved in these three countries. We are nothing if we are not humanitarian warriors. If we continue to fight wars to spread democracy and save lives in other countries, in about 30 years, there will be no more folks enslaved because there will be no one left. Mission accomplished.
I am very happy Obama did very well with his NCAA Tournament office pool, but in getting us involved in a third war, I fear he is carrying this March Madness theme too far. At this writing, the news media is accusing the president of authorizing CIA infiltration into Libya, and breaking his pledge of “no American boots on the ground.” In my opinion, the president is being criticized unfairly because I have personally discovered that all of our secret agents in Libya are wearing wingtips.
It is not that I am a personal fan of Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator, but he does have one good point. Gaddafi was taken off the terrorist list by none other than George W. Bush after he gave up his nuclear ambitions. In my book, that alone offset his bad hair days and made him look good when compared with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Kim Jong il of North Korea.
There is no doubt Gaddafi is a ruthless dictator, but until a few weeks ago, he was our ruthless dictator. When the rebels took up arms against Gaddafi, did they do so without expectation Muammar would respond by giving them Butterfingers and small bouquets of flowers? I hate to state the obvious, but in civil wars the incumbent power usually responds by killing people (reference General Sherman’s march on Georgia). I have a sneaking suspicion the rebels figured we would come riding to their rescue.
We haven’t figured out the identity of these rebels, who may take over Libya, we are saving. I don’t want to be a spoiled sport about this additional chapter in the legend of American altruism, but shouldn’t the first step have been figuring out how many al-Qaeda and Hamas are among the rebels? I am a firm believer in learning the lessons of the past (or as they say, history has a habit of repeating itself). We once rode to the rescue of the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan against the Soviets and their leader turned out to be Osama bin Laden. How did that work out?
At last report, we are spending about $100 million per day in Libya. I know, I know, the picky among you will say we could be spending that money on education, fixing potholes and turning honeydew melons into an alternative fuel source. I’ll bet you also eat granola for breakfast. The money we are spending in Libya is fueling our economy and creating jobs for workers assembling bombs. It is also money well spent because it shows America has not grown soft, that a president is still capable of being strong on defense. And what I like most: Our action in Libya has turned the Republicans into the peace party. Before our humanitarian effort in Libya, the last Republican to oppose a war was Robert A. Taft.
I don’t know about you, but I was getting tired of photos of the Japan tragedy dominating the news. I am not coldhearted, but I, for one, believe if world news isn’t about us, I’d rather see more time spent on the five-day forecast. Once they determined the radiation wasn’t going to endanger the West Coast, I got bored. I even canceled my order for potassium tablets. The Libyan stuff gave us some real good action shots and gave Richard Engel a chance to get the hell out of Egypt. Libya is good television. At least we have something to hold our attention until maybe Syria blows up or Roy Halladay pitches his first no-hitter of the season.
When I worked for the government, we used to have these briefings called “lessons learned.” In my opinion, here are the lessons learned in our action in Libya. If you are a dictator, you ought to hold on to your nuclear arsenal or try to get one. You don’t see America invading North Korea or Iran. Also, if you are a dictator, make sure you are friendly to America or at least responsible for more than 2 percent of our oil supply. You don’t see us worrying about promoting democracy in Saudi Arabia, do you?
Finally, if America does come after you, accept an offer of a permanent vacation in Argentina. The beef is great and the women aren’t half bad either. SPR
28043877
