1848 Redux. President Obama, you must not stand idly by to permit the dictators of the Middle East to crush revolutions for democracy. Think about this. In 1848, there were many liberal revolutions in Europe that were crushed by the monarchies of the day. But what if those revolutions had succeeded? Would World War I have occurred? Altho it is possible for democracies go to war against each other, such wars are rare, and hugely less common than wars among dictatorships, monarchies, and dynasties. If World War I had not occurred, there would have been no World War II. How many wars and atrocities are you consigning us to suffer in the future by inaction now? The very least you must do is impose a no-fly zone upon Qaddafi. Better yet, KILL him. You don't have to ravage the country; just kill Qaddafi and his inner circle thru "surgical strikes". Ronald Reagan made one attempt to kill Qaddafi, failed, then — as he was accustomed to doing — turned away and left things bad, for us to deal with now. You must not do that. You must KILL Qaddafi. "Shock and awe" his regime to death.
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Elsewhere in the area, tell the Saudis forcefully to get out of Bahrain. Tell all the dictators/monarchs of the region that the winds of change are sweeping across their region, and if they resist by force, they risk intervention by the outside world. So they can embrace change as an act of volition, and thus retain some role in determining the future of their society, or they can be overthrown and play no part whatsoever in the future — if they can even survive (literally: biologically).
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In 1848, the United States was too weak to help unseat the monarchies of Europe. We have no such excuse now. You don't have to wait around like a little girl wallflower at a 7th-grade dance, waiting for an invitation to intervene. You can work with the Arab League and EU to get the United Nations to authorize action to end the Qaddafi regime. Or you can stand by, see democracy die with tens of thousands of Libyans, and win the hatred of Democrats (and little-d democrats) in this country and of everyone who cares about human rights, all around the world. Unfortunately, it won't be just you they hate, but the United States. We will be looked upon as a nation of contemptible weaklings and hypocrites who talk ideals but won't lift one finger to secure the triumph of those ideals. Act, or be condemned by history.

- posted by L. Craig Schoonmaker @ 11:59 PM