The carnage meted out upon the rebel forces in Libya is terrible. However, it does not come anywhere near to a genocide in scope or in numbers. Libya itself is not a strategic concern of the US, although there are implications in the severity of repression encouraging other extremely repressive regimes like Iran and Syria who are foes of the US. US or European military intervention would most likely garner little lasting thanks among radicalized Arabs or among the Arab satrapies that wink in private but enrage their publics. And, the US military is stretched enough already. We still have the capabilities to mount a no-fly operation, the weak Europeans as usual requiring US forces to do much effective, but there is no compelling national interest really to do so.
I've been searching for indications and information that the Arab states themselves could handle a no-fly zone, after their Arab League endorsed one but did not say they would undertake one. At Real Clear World this morning is a piece from a Dubai, UAE think tank that says they should do the job themselves and can do it, A Joint Arab Force Could Better Enforce a Libya No-Fly-Zone. Worth reading, and repeating regardless of who argues the US should do it.
Tracked: Mar 14, 06:02