Anne-Marie Slaughter urges action on Libya

Under the recent Bush administration, the U.S. lifted sanctions and formally restored full diplomatic relations with Libya after its government renounced terrorism and dismantled its nuclear weapons program in 2003. At the time, the shift was heralded by State Department officials as “a success in our foreign policy.” A BBC correspondent went so far as to call it a “fairy tale.”

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And was going to link to him myself, that said its amusing that Republicans like Douthat and Will return to their non-interventionist roots as soon as a Democrat is in the White House. Their silence on Iraq was deafening. That said both have called for exits from Afghanistan and are opposing military action here. It was disturbing to hear Chuck Schumer argue on Meet the Press, echoing our own senior Senator Kerry, that the President can do this unilaterally without consulting Congress (pretty sure a no-fly zone would be more than 30 days and thus subject to Congressional review under the War Powers Act). Even more disturbing to see so many of my liberal friends and liberal commentators and policymakers I respect make the same broad pronouncements of humanitarian necessity and the ease of intervention. I am sorry, but whenever the US has intervened in a civil war previously it has not ended well (see: Korea, Vietnam, El Salvador, Angola, Somalia to name a few). I defer to Secretary Gates and his four decades of national security experience and his reluctance to send more troops to die on foreign soil for a foreign cause, no matter how just. Saddam was ten times the butcher Qaddaffi is and a much greater threat to his friends and neighbors, but I opposed intervention then as I do now. Humanitarian interests are simply not enough to justify US blood and treasure from a policy standpoint, especially since the time frame will prevent us from making the long term preparations needed to make sure a ‘limited war’ succeeded. And our track record is fairly atrocious unless you count Iraq, Kosovo, Haiti, and Somalia as successful democracies. The risk of another Rwanda seems low, and while this may sound cold I would rather risk American lives when our own interests are at stake. I appreciate the caution on the behalf of the administration, its nuanced approach to this issue is a breath of fresh air. I saw let NATO and the Arab League coordinate this, its time we let someone else be the world’s policeman for once, especially since few people appreciate our interventions and good intentions when we do.