Muammar Gaddafi was the biggest concern with this issue. The man ran around in luxury, and seemed fairly proud to have a plethora of virgin battlemaidens to protect him. Clearly insane, and even more so oppressive to his people living under his reign. Immediately following his come to power he essentially expelled all Italians from his country. Even stated by our own leader, Obama,
Libya sits directly between Tunisia and Egypt -– two nations that inspired the world when their people rose up to take control of their own destiny. For more than four decades, the Libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant -– Muammar Qaddafi. He has denied his people freedom, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorized innocent people around the world –- including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents.
I honestly don't find that all hard to believe. Obama himself stated that if not our duty as a country to protect these citizens that it should be our duty as humans to protect each other from atrocities such as those caused by Gaddafi. In short, Gaddafi needed to be removed from power, and clearly negotiation was out of the question with this man. Which in my case always comes first; there seems to be no negotiation with someone such as Gaddafi though. If everyone just sits, watches, and waits for something to get done then there's no hope in the situation ever being taken care of. Helping also lends us more allies in the long run when it comes time that America needs a shoulder to lean on.
What I can't so much agree with though is the need for the US and other coalition powers to stay within the country to help build some sort of democracy within the country. Perhaps watch from afar and offer a helping hand, but I believe that instead of a hand we've shoved our entire arm into the process. If one builds off of a pre-existing technology or ideal then you're building along the path set for you by the creator. While we as humans should watch out for each other we should also come to full realization of our individualistic senses. I would say allow the Libyan people to decide their fate. We helped remove the thorn, and that's as much as I believe we should do. The mouse didn't stick around and tell the lion how to be a lion last I checked, but rather gained a friend. This is how I believe such a thing should work. We saw our kin in need, helped, and gained a friend in the future. There's no need to push for anything more than that, yeah?
I agree with your stance that it is important for us to provide a helping hand to remove ruthless dictators from office and allow the citizens to establish a democratic government and give themselves a voice without too many ideas of how to do so from the United States and other world powers. The people know what they want and usually have some ideas of their own on how to best establish a governing body that would benefit the country as a whole. The importance of technology to these revolutions has been greatly evident. Young people especially in these countries have seen online what life is like and how much better it is by comparison in places like Western Europe and the United States.
ReplyDeleteA major opinion I possess on the use of military force to remove those in power is that when our leaders do make the call to go in, I believe we should go in with force and get the job done quickly; wasting time and letting said dictator and his supporters oppress the populace even further only breeds feelings of contempt for us among those we are seeking to help.
Concerns over American involvement in Libya have been voiced, such as costs when our own country is struggling economically. New stations broadcasted that within hours of commencing missle attacks, millions of dollars worth of missles had been launched in order to cripple Libyan missle defense. Some Americans were angry that the government was intervening overseas in a similar manner as in Afghanistan and Iran. Even today, clips of Donald Trump were aired on television declaring that Libyan involvement would only be justified if it was in the interest of retaining foreign oil.
ReplyDeleteI've been struck by the ignorance of the humanitarian aspects of the issue; when UN declared a no-fly zone, Gaddafi was on the warpath to massacre the rebels that had risen up to fight for their own rights. He has been an oppressive dictator throughout his rule, and if he is not supported by his own people I do not think he should be supported by other peoples of the world. We may not be their countrymen, but America will not gain anything by being only self-interested and self-absorbed. I think efforts to overthrow Gaddafi were justified. Our own revolution was not completly of our own doing, and it would be wrong to deny Libya the right to rule themselves which we are so lucky to have.