Keller @ Large: Missile Strike Of Libya
BOSTON (CBS) -- While bankrupt leaders in Tunisia and Egypt were getting their walking papers from fed-up citizens, I was cheering them on and applauding the fact that it was happening without America having to get involved.
If the Obama administration seemed to struggle a little bit trying to figure out what was actually going on in those countries and get on top of it, at least they managed to keep us out of it militarily. Plenty of us are still having enough trouble digesting our nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan to want extreme caution used in sending our brave soldiers on yet another mission, and it appeared the White House was doing so.
Until this weekend.
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All of a sudden, with an OK from the UN and shaky support from the Arab League, we're raining missiles down on Colonel Qaddafi's military and, it seemed last night, on his residential compound. There are few more worthy targets than Qaddafi, a terrorist and mass murderer going way back, and if our military action is part of a plan to quickly knock him out so someone even somewhat more stable can move in, that would be one thing.
But the more official statements I read about this mission, the more alarmed I become.
For instance, the mandate we have from the UN says nothing about actually removing Qaddafi from power, and yesterday the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said they'd consider their mission accomplished if Qaddafi's military offensive was stopped, even if he stayed in power. We could be policing a no-fly zone for quite some time if that happened, as we did in Iraq for years after the 1991 Gulf War.
And what other similar commitments might we be drawn into under the foreign policy the president articulated over the weekend: "We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people that there will be no mercy"?
Plus, when you hear that the Libyan rebels include a jihadist group that has reportedly been associated with Al Queda in the past, you wonder – will the new boss be an improvement on the old one?
Just a few questions, that's all, as America goes to war yet again.
You can listen to Keller @ Large on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
