Limits of US Power
The USA Today recently had an excellent editorial:” In Middle East, familiar echoes about limits of U.S. power.”
They pointed out that the Libyan military outnumber the rebels 10-1 and the rebels barely have a 1,000 military trained personnel fighting Qadhafi. Yet, the U.S. has chosen to back a group that they know little about and have no idea of what an end game may look like.
Now, the rebels are complaining that NATO is not doing enough. Then there is the news that the rebels have mujahedeen from Al Qaeda fighting with them.
What is amazing is the hypocrisy of it all. The U.S. will support rebels in Libya but not move a finger for the democracy movement in Bahrain.
Our foreign policy in the Middle East is an example of the limits of our power to do much of anything. Yet, we start a war in Libya and then say sorry we want NATO to take over.
To quote USA Today: “This all lends an uncomfortable familiar feeling of half-baked commitment, incremental escalation and dubious outcome.”
That says it all.