Libya

[happygirl]

looks like they have opened a can of worms

http://www.foxnews.com/

 

[dislaney]

Scary times we live in!

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Well the UN couldn't sit around anymore and do nothing while more and more innocent people were killed by Moammar Gadhafi. I think Gadhafi thought the UN was bluffing and called them on it, but they weren't.

 

[Megan_J]

We just bombed them. There is so much I could say on the subject right now but we aren't supposed to talk about politics.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Yep. The US started taking out Moammar Gadhafi's air defense systems with missiles from it's warships in the area so that the French and other allies with planes flying over Libya would be safer. The US will not be deploying any troops on the ground.

 

[ChrisFL]

looks like they have opened a can of worms

http://www.foxnews.com/

Yep, and don't visit fox news if you want real information

 

[Megan_J]

Yep, and don't visit fox news if you want real information

That's a given!

 

[SaraJayne]

Yep, and don't visit fox news if you want real information

I think everyone knows that.

The US is saying no ground troops...but as we all know, that could change in an hour.

 

[Aimros]

Yep, and don't visit fox news if you want real information

 

[Holly]

Well the UN couldn't sit around anymore and do nothing while more and more innocent people were killed by Moammar Gadhafi. I think Gadhafi thought the UN was bluffing and called them on it, but they weren't.

Yes, they really could have. Sometimes doing nothing is the right thing to do, because doing something just makes things worse.

 

[bicker]

It's all a matter of perspective. Clearly, for the people onto whom atrocities would be committed, nothing could be worse than how things would have been, and anything done to preclude those atrocities being committed would be an improvement. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself whether you'd prefer having the entire world stand by watching you being attacked. Any reasonable person would clearly hope and expect that people of conscience would not stand by and let such things continue unabated, and they would be justified in their expectations in that regard, simply on humanitarian grounds. We're not talking about people not having access to the latest films or books - we're talking about sanitation, power, emergency care, basic necessities - all being withheld - and the inevitability that the government there would commit much worse (if they haven't done so already). There is a threshold of offense beyond which it would be morally indefensible for the outside world to just sit back and do nothing.

 

[Kimberly]

Did you really think that "rebels" arranged an armed uprising against a fairly powerful military regime?

I think we've been there from the get go. At least the CIA and SIS (British CIA) has been. At least they've been ARMING the rebels.

Shocking that the US publickly attacked though, completely unexpected.

 

[manning]

I watch CNN, ABC........too. That way I get all sides.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

So now Gadhafi is asking the UN Security Council to punish coalition who took part and to do what it takes about the aggression. I wonder if he realized yet that it was the UN who approved this in the first place. I don't think he will get any sympathy from them.

 

[pat fan]

At least they've been ARMING the rebels.

To be fair, we armed Gadhafi too.

I do think helping the rebels was the right thing, and at the same time, I cringe. Our troops are stretched so thin right now, I wish we could get out of one mess before we step into another.

Shocking that the US publickly attacked though, completely unexpected.

I think you mean UN, not US.

 

[lovemygoofy]

For me its like dejavu all over again. I'm sure Obama didn't think about the date before okaying the missles but 8 years ago today was the first bombs of Iraq. Here we are again...

 

[MagicKingdom05]

To be fair, we armed Gadhafi too.

I do think helping the rebels was the right thing, and at the same time, I cringe. Our troops are stretched so thin right now, I wish we could get out of one mess before we step into another.


I think you mean UN, not US.

I feel the same way. I hate that it came to this, but like you said it was the right thing to do.

 

[Angelhalo]

To be fair, we armed Gadhafi too.

I do think helping the rebels was the right thing, and at the same time, I cringe. Our troops are stretched so thin right now, I wish we could get out of one mess before we step into another.


I think you mean UN, not US.

I feel the same way. I hate that it came to this, but like you said it was the right thing to do.

Ditto

 

[Holly]

It's all a matter of perspective. Clearly, for the people onto whom atrocities would be committed, nothing could be worse than how things would have been, and anything done to preclude those atrocities being committed would be an improvement. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself whether you'd prefer having the entire world stand by watching you being attacked. Any reasonable person would clearly hope and expect that people of conscience would not stand by and let such things continue unabated, and they would be justified in their expectations in that regard, simply on humanitarian grounds. We're not talking about people not having access to the latest films or books - we're talking about sanitation, power, emergency care, basic necessities - all being withheld - and the inevitability that the government there would commit much worse (if they haven't done so already). There is a threshold of offense beyond which it would be morally indefensible for the outside world to just sit back and do nothing.

Bicker, it can always be worse.

I agree that it's a matter of perspective and I wonder if the following scenario would change yours:

Using what's happened when we meddled in these things in recent years, here's a prediction: we'll go there, a bunch of people will die and Gadhafi will be overthrown. Then the rebel factions we helped to overthrow Gadhafi and other groups will start killing each other and there will be a civil war. The net result could very well be that far more people will die than would have died under Gadhafi if we had just stayed out of Libya's business.

Would the behavior of the U.N. be morally indefensible then or does our moral accountability start over from scratch?

As we've also seen, any gains made by groups in these countries are always seen as illegitimate if they're attained with the help of the west.
Going there and helping seems like a great idea until you take the time to look at the culture and realize that we may be doing more harm than good.

 

[topolino]

Yep, and don't visit fox news if you want real information

Instead we should get it from a comedian on the Comedy Channel?