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talkpoliticsOn a day when opposition forces in Libya suffered battlefield losses, President Barack Obama made clear in interviews Tuesday with the three major U.S. television networks that he was open to arming the rebel fighters.
"I'm not ruling it out, but I'm also not ruling it in," Obama told NBC in one of the separate interviews he gave the day after a nationally televised speech on the Libya situation.
"I think it's fair to say that if we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could," Obama told ABC. "We're looking at all our options at this point."
More here: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/29/obama.libya.interviews/
I have four thoughts on this:
1) The reason he's not ruling it out is because the American's are probably arming them through their subsidiaries. The Egyptians have been shipping weapons over the border with the full knowledge (and support one assumes) of the Americans.
2) How does arming the rebels protect civilians? Particularly those civilians who may well be opposed to the rebels actions?
3) Do the American's (and the Brits & the French) even know exactly who these rebels are? And then I found this article: Amid Rebels, 'Flickers' of al Qaeda
4) Have the American's (and the Brits & the French) learned nothing from Afghanistan?
Maybe someone can explain to me how it is a good idea to arm the rebels? Because I can't see how this is a good idea.
"I'm not ruling it out, but I'm also not ruling it in," Obama told NBC in one of the separate interviews he gave the day after a nationally televised speech on the Libya situation.
"I think it's fair to say that if we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could," Obama told ABC. "We're looking at all our options at this point."
More here: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/29/obama.libya.interviews/
I have four thoughts on this:
1) The reason he's not ruling it out is because the American's are probably arming them through their subsidiaries. The Egyptians have been shipping weapons over the border with the full knowledge (and support one assumes) of the Americans.
2) How does arming the rebels protect civilians? Particularly those civilians who may well be opposed to the rebels actions?
3) Do the American's (and the Brits & the French) even know exactly who these rebels are? And then I found this article: Amid Rebels, 'Flickers' of al Qaeda
4) Have the American's (and the Brits & the French) learned nothing from Afghanistan?
Maybe someone can explain to me how it is a good idea to arm the rebels? Because I can't see how this is a good idea.
(no subject)
Date: 30/3/11 05:59 (UTC)We can't un-bomb the Libyan army, our real question is if we follow through and remove Qaddafi from power or do we allow him to stay in place.
Anyone who is going to believe the rebels are Western puppets will already believe that, along with those who think this is all about oil. That damage is done. I'd say that we're committed to giving the rebels as much help as they need to remove Gaddafi.
This is exactly why I was not a fan of the no-fly zone. We're now in a situation of our own making in which the option of sitting back and watching Kaddafi slaughter his own people has been taken off the table.
(no subject)
Date: 30/3/11 20:57 (UTC)How?
We're now in a situation of our own making in which the option of sitting back and watching Kaddafi slaughter his own people has been taken off the table.
We seem to be quite comfortable watching the slaughter going on in the rest of Africa.
(no subject)
Date: 30/3/11 20:59 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 31/3/11 06:04 (UTC)Rwanda did cause some discomfort. It seems there are those who didn't want to sit back and see this kind of massacre replay itself, something that was a definite possibility if Kaddafi's troops won the civil war. Now that we are learning the alternative, I'm guessing that we will feel more comfortable sitting back in the future and watching Africans kill each other next time. I wouldn't call it a recipe for success, but there aren't many protests about Darfur these days.
(no subject)
Date: 3/4/11 15:51 (UTC)That's because nobody is bothering to report what is going on there.