To borrow a phrase from Gene Healy of the Cato institute, the US is continuing to play “Globocop.” Saturday, US Naval vessels in the Mediterranean led the launching of at least 110 Tomahawk Cruise missiles into Libya.
To be sure, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is a cruel dictator. He’s a beast, a purveyor of terrorism, yet he hasn’t cast anything more than an evil eye toward the US in decades. So naturally, even Chadds Ford Democrats are applauding the UN-sanctioned action of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya. (See the comment below the Op/Ed piece “Stay out of Libya” at https://chaddsfordlive.com/article/Editorial_Opinion/OpEd/Stay_out_of_Libya/73286)
Perhaps few people understood that when the UN voted last week to establish the no-fly zone, it was authorizing an act of war. The US, among others, is obliging.
That there are “humanitarian reasons” for the action, the justification remains questionable and the outcome is far from certain. Even former Democratic Party US Rep. Joe Sestak said on MSNBC, twice, over the weekend that there is a good chance the US may wind up taking a lead in this affair to the point of sending in ground troops.
Democrats were critical, and rightly so, over George Bush’s rush to wage a war against Iraq. Now, though, the Democrats can have their own war in Libya.
The Obama administration has now authorized air missions—bombings—in six countries: Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. This after President Obama, as a senator, said the American president does not have the power to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.
Regardless that people say the reasons for Operation Odyssey Dawn are humanitarian and sanctioned by the UN, the use of military force is constitutionally justified only in defense of this country, not because, as Cato’s Doug Bandow suggests, Mr. Obama wants to get in touch with his inner neocon.
It’s even uncertain at this time whether the goal is to oust Gadhafi. Speculation has it that he can maintain a West Libya from Tripoli with someone ruling an East Libya from Benghazi.
Mr. Sestak, a former three-star admiral also said on MSNBC that it’s not known exactly who the Libyan rebels are, who the US and UN might be backing.
Great. Let’s help those who might be worse.
From Korea to Vietnam, from Iraq to Libya and all the brush wars in between where the American military has been ordered to kill and be killed for no constitutionally valid reason, the foreign policy of the US government, whether run by Republicans or Democrats is the same, play Globocop. Be the bully of the block. Do it our way or else.
Those among us who advocate liberty, peace and constitutionally limited government as primary goals hope the Democrats get as much out of their war with Libya as the Republicans got out of theirs with Iraq. Was your wargasm as good for you as theirs was for them? Was it worth it?
