I’ve just published a foreign policy-related post at Outside the Beltway:
The Security Council Resolution on Libya
I think that people are getting waayyyy ahead of themselves on the UN’s authorization to use force against Qaddafi’s military in Libya. It doesn’t authorize removing Qaddafi from power, it doesn’t authorize arming the rebels, it doesn’t authorize supporting the rebels against Qaddafi. It just supports preventing Qaddafi from using his military against “civilians”. Are militias armed with automatic weapons and rocket launchers civilians? I don’t think so.
Hi Dave,
Spot on.
And while we are at it, I have been hearing a lot of nonsense regarding how “we’ve done it the right way” this time – re: Arab League and UNSC. No. The import of diplomacy matters in context of the use of military force – absent effective use of force it is a means of dragging out the situation while cultivating an image of hapless ineffectuality. Libya was a ragtag military power before the rebellion, Gaddafi’s remaining military forces are the kind of motley rump fielded by a successful warlord. Any third rate power could wipe them out so the coalition being assembled amounts to the appearance of action to forestall taking any.
Better to either not do anything or do it quickly than engage in posturing.