First, Col. Quadaffi was operating a sort of Soviet client state, but we got along..

[OmahaBlueDog]

...then, we held him at least partially responsible for some major terrorist incidents, and bombed his house (refer to Sam Kinnison -- "Where's the little girl's room")

...then, somewhere in there, the press started spelling his name "Gafaffy" - or similar variations.

... then, he was ostensibly helping us with the war on Al Quaida, and we were sorta pals again

...then, there was a rebel uprising, and (having seen the recent example in Egypt), we told him it was time to go.

...then, to just about everyone's surprise, not only Quadaffi not leave, but his forces started beating the crap out of the rebels (Hosni Mubarak is doing a major face palm right about now).

...then, the UN (!) ... let me repeat that... the UN (!)... decided that everyone should slap a no-fly zone over Libya. Hillary Clinton said it sounded like a great idea, but we'll also need to drop some bombs :wtf:

1) Have I missed any key points, or do I have this about right?

2) If he doesn't leave, will the no-fly zone then be followed by sanctions and an oil-for-food program?

[tabatha]

1. My head hurts after reading that gobbledygook.

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. I'm sorry your head hurts, and I realize the Sam Kinnison reference is obscure

You cannot deny, however, that our Libya policy (just like our Iraq policy) has been pretty inconsistent.

I could be wrong, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the oil.

[PurityOfEssence]

7. Basing military policy on stomping on those we don't happen to like is no basis for civilization

Libya is a sovereign nation. This is an internal dispute.

He's sponsored terrorism. His agents blew up a bomb in a Berlin Nightclub in an attempt to kill U.S. soldiers, actually killing a Turkish woman, two U.S. servicemen, and injuring over 200 people. He's responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.

We literally tried to kill him and his family in an air strike where we dropped 60 TONS of munitions on his house and other sites; he and his family escaped because they were forewarned by the Maltese Prime Minister and an Italian politician. He's a certified asshole and not particularly predictable. If there was no oil there, we wouldn't even entertain doing a thing, and if there's not back-channel maneuvering going on with the rebels to get guarantees of oil production, then the human race has suddenly changed. The rebels have already dangled this "warning".

The problem that many of us see here is the precedent to be set to militarily interfere in the internal affairs of a nation; that opens a can of worms and pisses in the face of the foundation of international relations, making violent retaliation a perfectly fine tactic for powerful nations or other entities to use as they please.

Having said all that, though, it's not an easy situation, and some response by the international community is justified. Granting ourselves the "right" to attack and help overthrow a sitting government is not our indisputable privilege, though, and it needs to be said.

[Wilms]

2. That's a pretty good synopsis.

It's been the playbook of the Republican/DLC Party running this joint.

[Codeine]

3. Three periods in an ellipsis, please. nt

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. OK - I edited just for you...but this is not an English paper.

I refuse to be graded.

[Codeine]

5. Lol! Just a pet peeve. nt