A variation of this title appeared on Boston.com so we should give credit where credit is due, but what we'd like to touch on is not just the different spellings of a despot's name, but what it represents. (We'll get to that in a moment.) And yes, we're writing this column late in the week, forgive us our indulgences for the timing of this post.
Much has happened since the Sunday Meet The Press interview with Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, but there are still some significant questions still lingering from said interview. Namely, what is our policy on Qadhafi? The Admiral outlined that the military mission is not to oust the dictator and that one of the outcomes of our actions is that Qadhafi stays in power. However, President Obama has said that U.S. policy is that Qadhafi must go.
And this these are the kinds of contradicitons that we entrap ourselves in when we are dealing with a dictator who represents as close to a Machiavellian ideal as you can have on the world stage. Depending on which spelling you assign to what phase of Qadhafi (we're being consistent in the post for the sake of sanity), you get a different play.
In 1986, President Reagan dropped 60 tons of bombs on Tripoli in response to a Libyan terror attack in a Berlin nightclub. In 1998, Pam Am Flight 103 goes down over Lockerbie, Scotland in a terrorist bombing larger believed to be the responsibility of Qadhafi. Later, Abdelbaset Mohmed Ali al-Megrahi is convcted of mass murder for the act. In 2004, the Bush Administration normalizes relations with the dictator as he vowed to give up in nuclear ambitions (now our concerns focus on the chemical weapons he may have). In August 2009, said bomber is released back to Libya on behalf of medical mercy. In September 2009, Qadhafi makes his first appearance at the U.N. and gives a 90 minute rambling diatribe about all his perceived enemies. In 2010, a Libyan official confirms that it was Qadhafi who personally ordered the Lockerbie Bombing. In 2011, Qadhafi fires rockets on his own people. The various lives of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi. There's your two-bit history.
So Operation Odyssey Dawn is another in a list of military conflicts we've had with him over the years so we understand that Qadhafi must go, but we have to completely stop giving him any rope. However, with this operation, there is no going back, no recognizing him as leader of Libya. The long term is that we'll have to use our resources to isolate him, and unfortunately the people of Libya, in a way that rivals North Korea. The extended term strategy is not clear at all that has to be addressed.
The other big issue is the double standard of what's going on in Bahrain, with the protesters there being fired upon by the Monarchy, and also the Saudi Army. When the United States has to not longer turn a blind eye to the actions of Saudi Arabia, it will be a liberating one. The Administration's response about our position with regard to stopping the violence in Bahrain is basically non-existent.
The Senatorial panel of John Kerry (D-MA), Carl Levins (D-MI), and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) all seemed measured in their responses, but Senator Kerry clarified that this is not a war with another Arab country. It's a debatable point based on what constitutes war these days, but what it does do is show support for the President, which Senator Levin showed as well even though he's being watchful for mission creep. For clarification, this is when ulterior military motives are indulged within the depth of another mission, something we certainly can not have in the case of Libya. Even Senator Sessions, who rightfully questioned what the endgame is for this action would be, was supportive of the President's actions. Where he is at time of this writing, we can only speculate.
In extricating ourselves from the front lines of these coalition strikes against Colonel Qadhafi and his military quickly, we're doing the right thing. Before anyone settles into a consistent line of thinking that we're at war with another Arab country, we need to get out of there. This doesn't mean that the President shouldn't explain what happened, what's going on, and what's coming down the line.
Panel: NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, NBC’s Chief Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, and the New York Times’ Helene Cooper. Plus insights on what the conflict could mean for the U.S. militarily and the president’s agenda from former CIA Director, Gen. Michael Hayden and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass.
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