Libya, Operation Odyssey Dawn, and the Mid East is on fire.

Two months ago (last blog posting), I created a map of what I thought the Middle East could become under the power of one ruler. I dubbed it the "New Persian Empire". Maybe I should have called it a different name, however, the possibility of the entire region (and even further, possibly including Morocco and other nations I didn't put "within" the boarders) being ruled by one person, a Caliphate is now more real than ever.

MARCH 19, 2011 OBAMA: 'Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people. And we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world'... MARCH 19, 2003 BUSH: 'American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger'...

I'm torn on us being involved in Libya. I do think Colonel "nutjob" Gaddafi  should be killed or brought to justice because of previous crimes he committed such as the Pan Am flight bombing over Lockerbie and the bombing of the German nightclub that killed many Americans. If President Obama launched a Tomahawk or ordered a B-2 Bombing raid over his palace, I'd say "bravo" and we would all move on. I do not think we should be meddling with a nation's civil war, especially because we do not have a defined mission. Must Gaddafi go or just stop killing his own citizens or do we want an East Libya and a West Libya?

If the Obama Administration, NATO, and the United Nations were serious about removing Gaddafi, the no fly zone would have happened weeks ago. Also, a No Fly Zone alone will not accomplish a goal of removing Gaddafi, or even him stopping a civil war. As we saw in Kosovo in the 90s, you need troops on the ground, and we all know we can't afford a 3rd front. This leads to the third main issue, how long will we be involved? There is a difference between launching a couple hundred missiles and a few B-2 bombing raids (as CNN is reporting) taking out military targets and us being involved for months or years.

The whole Mid East is on fire, which is why I don't like how we are picking and choosing our fights. What's next, we have to protect the citizens in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, or Bahrain who are being killed by their governments while citizens are unarmed? Again, I want Gaddafi killed, but I do not want a 3rd (or more) war, especially in the Mid East.