More on Libya
I want to direct your attention to an excellent article by Juan Cole, which greatly amplified my understanding of what is going on in Libya, and what is at stake. In case you don't know about Cole, he is a professor at the University of Michigan, who consistently provided the most knowledgeable comment about Iraq, during the Bush-Cheney fiasco. Here are a couple of excerpts, but you should really read the whole thing, and probably bookmark Cole's blog for further information:
The libel put out by the dictator, that the 570,000 people of Misrata or the 700,000 people of Benghazi were supporters of “al-Qaeda,” was without foundation"
That didn't stop the mindless opponents of Obama, as readers of Wingnut Wrapup will know, from instantly buying into the dictator's lies and attacking him for supposedly allying himself with Al Qaida.
If the Left opposed intervention, it de facto acquiesced in Qaddafi’s destruction of a movement embodying the aspirations of most of Libya’s workers and poor, along with large numbers of white collar middle class people."
There's a great deal more insight in this post, and I recommend it highly. And as I really don't know enough to have a lot to say about Libya, I hope you will forgive me for trying to direct you toward someone who does.
"I am unabashedly cheering the liberation movement on, and glad that the UNSC-authorized intervention has saved them from being crushed. I can still remember when I was a teenager how disappointed I was that Soviet tanks were allowed to put down the Prague Spring and extirpate socialism with a human face.
The libel put out by the dictator, that the 570,000 people of Misrata or the 700,000 people of Benghazi were supporters of “al-Qaeda,” was without foundation"
That didn't stop the mindless opponents of Obama, as readers of Wingnut Wrapup will know, from instantly buying into the dictator's lies and attacking him for supposedly allying himself with Al Qaida.
"The question is what kind of leadership was emerging in places like Benghazi. The answer is that it was simply the notables of the city. If there were an uprising against Silvio Berlusconi in Milan, it would likely unite businessmen and factory workers, Catholics and secularists. It would just be the people of Milan. A few old time members of the Red Brigades might even come out, and perhaps some organized crime figures. But to defame all Milan with them would be mere propaganda.
If the Left opposed intervention, it de facto acquiesced in Qaddafi’s destruction of a movement embodying the aspirations of most of Libya’s workers and poor, along with large numbers of white collar middle class people."
There's a great deal more insight in this post, and I recommend it highly. And as I really don't know enough to have a lot to say about Libya, I hope you will forgive me for trying to direct you toward someone who does.
Comments