[Representative Allen West (R-FL) said
that in speaking about Libya] he's addressing what he considers his
area of expertise. Indeed, House Republicans recently put him on the
House Armed Services Committee because of his knowledgeable background
on military matters.
"I don't know why we're shooting
$567,000 a piece Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya. You know, back
two or three weeks ago, we could have taken care of this situation if
we had done the exact same thing that Ronald Reagan did back in the
early 80's to Muammar Gaddafi, when he dropped the bomb in his back
yard. Muammar Gaddafi didn't say a word for the next 30 years."
Daily Kos has a short round-up of opinions on
whether
to
support the bombing of Libya. They're mostly opposed, but one of
the opinions is pro-bombing. A consistent theme is the question of:
"What is the endgame? What is the US trying to achieve?"
Good
thinkpiece
on Libya:
Regardless, I do generally support the
current
military
effort, not least because it is not a unilateral effort
but an international one with the British and French taking lead roles.
The Iraq War in particular soured our appreciation for military
intervention of any kind, and perhaps rightly so, but ask yourself
this: Do you not want Qaddafi removed from power? Do you not think we
should be not just expressing our support for the Libyan opposition
but, given that Qaddafi has the power to crush it but actively
supporting its efforts? Sure, there is inconsistency here. Again, we're
intervening in Libya but not in North Korea, a far more horrendous
state. But there will never be consistency. Almost by definition,
military intervention must be ad hoc. And not intervening in North
Korea, or even in Bahrain, does not mean that all intervention is
thereby illegitimate.
Whoa!
That's a cool truck!
Facebook
photos from DelValVets buddy Bill Perry. His stuff is good because
he tends to get lots and lots of close-up photos. Of course, he either
knows peoples' names or asks them at the scene. I tend to focus on
getting long or medium-range shots.
War Is A Crime.org has a
whole
list
of links to actions citizens can take to oppose wars.
TPM Editor
takes
a
look at just who the Liban rebels are.
But Engel's comments do give me the sense that what you have are
'rebels' in the incredibly inchoate sense of a bunch of people thinking
and acting somewhat in unison as sometimes happens when a government
seems on the verge of collapsing.
Protesters stream back into Lafayette
Square, where Bill Perry's
second
set of photos documents the civil disobedience that took place at
the fence.
John Bolton, the big, heroic, brave and dashing man of action (That's
snark, of course. I looked at his
Wikipedia page.
Nope, he may have gone to a rifle range and seen other people shooting
at paper targets, but "he's never heard a shot fired in anger.")
criticizes
the
Arab League for "grumbling" about civilian casualties.
A small group of Syrians decided to take
advantage of the protest to conduct their own protest against
their
government.
Syria has had a summer of power
failures and electricity shortages, and recent suggestions by Prime
Minister Muhammad Naki al-Otari that American and French economic
pressures are to blame are being greeted with skepticism by a weary
public.
Next -
Bradley Manning
protest