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Why can't we just let the Libyans fight it out (...and then make friends with the winners)
The Daily Mail ^ | March 20, 2011 | Peter Hitchens

Posted on 03/20/2011 4:13:01 AM PDT by Scanian

Politics seems to have become a sort of mental illness. We have no bloody business in Libya, and no idea what we hope to achieve there.

We are daily told that we have no money to spare. We have just scrapped a large part of our Navy.

Our Army is stuck in an Afghan war whose point nobody can explain. And now we have set out on a course that could drag us into a long, gory brawl in North Africa.

And yet, when the Prime Minister announces this folly he is praised. Why? Partly it is because we all watch too much TV. Its reports simplify, then exaggerate.

Reporters, much like politicians, like to feel they are helping to make history, and get excited by subjects they knew nothing about until last Wednesday.

Before we know where we are, we are taking sides in quarrels we don’t understand. Who are the Libyan rebels? What do they want? Why do we love them so?

I’ve no idea, and nor has Mr Cameron, as we discovered when he (yes, it was him, not poor William Hague) sent the SAS to see them and they were welcomed with pitchforks and mockery.

The only sensible policy in Libya is to wait and see who wins, and then make friends with them. If you think this heartless, you are of course right. Foreign policy is heartless. Nice countries end up being conquered or going bankrupt. But it may be no more heartless than our kindly interference.

I pray that this episode ends quickly and cleanly. Perhaps it will. But we cannot know. What if our humanitarian bombs and missiles accidentally kill women and children (which is almost certain)? What if air attacks and distant shelling fail to stop Gaddafi’s forces?

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: cameron; gaddafi; interference; libya
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To: indylindy

So, because genocide is going on in Dharfur, we should allow genocide to go on everywhere?


21 posted on 03/20/2011 4:35:46 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: Scanian

Not all Muslims hate us. Many Americans today stand shoulder to shoulder with Muslims fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am not pretending that there are not a huge number who do hate us, but by no means do all of them.


22 posted on 03/20/2011 4:36:48 AM PDT by elhombrelibre ("I'd rather be ruled by the Tea Party than the Democratic Party." Norman Podhoretz)
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To: elhombrelibre

How does one tell the difference, without dieing first?


23 posted on 03/20/2011 4:38:04 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: Sarah-bot

The difference between what?


24 posted on 03/20/2011 4:39:05 AM PDT by elhombrelibre ("I'd rather be ruled by the Tea Party than the Democratic Party." Norman Podhoretz)
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To: Sarah-bot

Libya is a civil war. If you can turn your back on Christians being murdered by Muslims in Dharfur, it is hard to make the phony case that genocide is more important when Muslims are killing each other.

Frankly, we have no idea who the rebels are. If they are MB backed, I won’t miss them.


25 posted on 03/20/2011 4:39:15 AM PDT by dforest
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To: elhombrelibre

Between a Muslim that hates us, and a Muslim that does not?


26 posted on 03/20/2011 4:40:05 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: Sarah-bot
We are on the right side now

Supporting rebels with ties to the Muslim brotherhood is not being on the right side. Visit some sites of reformed jihadist. Walid Shoebat to start. Don't depend on Fox News or politicians to tell you which dogs are in a fight. We are not on the right side. It is rare to have a side chosen by Hilary to be the right side.

27 posted on 03/20/2011 4:40:32 AM PDT by armymarinemom (My sons freed Iraqi and Afghan Honor Roll students.)
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To: indylindy

I never turned my back on the Christians in Dharfur. The problem is that no good Christian has been willing to pay me to do anything about it. Money makes the world go around.


28 posted on 03/20/2011 4:42:33 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: Sarah-bot

Between a Muslim that hates us, and a Muslim that does not?


Who said that the rebels do not hate us?
(Fact is we know nothing about the rebels or about their goals) yet we are siding with them in a civil war.


29 posted on 03/20/2011 4:43:16 AM PDT by darkside321
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To: DB
Kill Gaddafi and get out.

Seconded.

30 posted on 03/20/2011 4:44:51 AM PDT by paulycy (Islamo-Marxism is Evil.)
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To: Scanian

The world has changed now, like it or not. Left alone, Gadaffi would unleash mercenaries and massacre thousands upon thousands as Eu /US watched.


31 posted on 03/20/2011 4:44:57 AM PDT by mewykwistmas (No blood for ($4 a gallon) oil!)
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To: mewzilla

Speaking of Lockerbie and for anyone else who’s been wondering,

Frankly my dear...(just an expression, not a jab)

I haven’t been wondering, other than this: We give a great big pass to the dicktator in Iran, who is scheduled to be the next nuclear power at our expense, and who actually invaded our sovereign territory, making hostages of our citizens and instead, invade, (sort of), Libya home of the Lockerbie bomber, planner, and executor.

I’m speechless.


32 posted on 03/20/2011 4:45:01 AM PDT by wita
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To: Sarah-bot

I wasn’t referring to you in particular. Surely you know that.

We are not in this Libya mess because of Daffy killing people. We are killing people too now.


33 posted on 03/20/2011 4:46:11 AM PDT by dforest
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To: Sarah-bot
Well, how can you tell the difference between anyone who hates you and those who do not? Do all black Americans hate whites? Some do. Do all white Americans hate blacks? Some do. Most Moslems do not hate Americans. I've been in 5 Moslem countries. I'm aware some hate us. I'm aware some don't. I can't tell which ones are which by looking at them.

Everyday service members from the US and other western countries go on patrols with Moslems in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of them workout well. We're well treated in the Gulf States and many other places. It's simply wrong headed to say all Moslems hate us.

34 posted on 03/20/2011 4:46:27 AM PDT by elhombrelibre ("I'd rather be ruled by the Tea Party than the Democratic Party." Norman Podhoretz)
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To: armymarinemom

You are not seeing the big picture. Once Gaddafi is dead then a rebel will take his place. We will learn who the Muslim Brother Hood rebel is, then we can take care of him. If we do not take out Gaddafi then we will never know who the Muslim Brother Hood man is.


35 posted on 03/20/2011 4:46:41 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: elhombrelibre

No, all Pirates hate free people. Lets start killing the pirates. All people who deploy IED’s hate fee men, lets kill them. You get the idea.


36 posted on 03/20/2011 4:49:04 AM PDT by Sarah-bot
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To: wita

Well, on a positive note, hopefully this means that al-Megrahi’s Lamborghini trips to see his new mansion will be a thing of the past.


37 posted on 03/20/2011 4:50:08 AM PDT by mewzilla (Were members of both political parties in on the Lockerbie bomber deal?)
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To: Scanian

It’s about Who will control the oil!!


38 posted on 03/20/2011 4:51:08 AM PDT by dokmad
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To: Sarah-bot

I have been living the big picture for nearly 20 years now. I have learned that liberals will send my sons off to fight for the Muslim brotherhood when they should be taking out the lot radical islam. You don’t try out the devil to see how he fits.


39 posted on 03/20/2011 4:51:14 AM PDT by armymarinemom (My sons freed Iraqi and Afghan Honor Roll students.)
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To: Sarah-bot

Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory.[2]

I never read it, so I’m not sure where I stand on social contract theory. I know where I stand on supporting rebels we really are clueless about. The Colonel has actually listened to us in the past, although if everything about Lockerbie is true, he does have a streak of get even.


40 posted on 03/20/2011 4:53:46 AM PDT by wita
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