As I see it the unfolding of events in Libya presages an America that is regarded as weak and ineffectual by own enemies and untrustworthy among our friends.
Without opening another “front” in North Africa, the U.S. had the ability to adopt a “no fly zone” in Libya using technical means that avoid a face-down. The goal should have been an effort to assist those who would oust Gaddafi and avoid, as well, the sacrifice Libyan citizens.
The endgame at the moment appears to be a Gaddafi emboldened by his success and now far more dangerous as a regional actor. Moreover, the inaction of the U.S. sends a message to Iran, a nation distrusted throughout the Arab Sunni world, that can assert itself as the “strong horse.” It also invites Turkey to reassert its own ambitions through a resurrected Ottoman empire. If you don’t trust Shia imperial goals, there is always Turkey in the neighborhood representing legitimate Sunni positions.
The signal these events provide is the political vacuum created by U.S. emotional and physical withdrawal from the region. We do not want to assume a leadership role and as a consequence have willy-nilly ceded it to our enemies.
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