Despite Our Horrific History of Intervention in the Middle East,
I am encouraged by the news of the United Nations resolution authorizing a force above and beyond a no fly zone in Libya. Being fully cognizant that this places me squarely in the ideological camp of supporting an act of war, I offer my opinion in this matter with the full humility of somebody who will not be directly impacted by the likely bloody days and weeks that inevitably lie ahead. I am moved to speak up in support of military action against Muammar Gadaffi because I believe there is no alternative, and because I believe that inaction will result in a sustained assault on humanity that will serve only to empower dictators around the world while crushing the glimmers of democratic hope that have swept all across the Middle East.
I am prepared to be wrong, and am not oblivious to the troubling moral burden of supporting Western nations to intervene, once again, in the Middle East. But the Arab world has spoken up, brave women, men and children have already given up their lives. To be in a position where we have the military force to prevent the killing of thousands of others, but choose not to act because we will suffer further injuries to our already battered world image is self-indulgent and morally debunk. I disagree with Noam Chomsky’s assertion that suggests we would be out of line to interfere in Libya. His anti-imperialist worldview, one which I wholeheartedly subscribe to, is now being exploited by the likes of Gadaffi and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei. According to these masterful manipulators, any and all attempts at democracy in the region are covers for American and Israeli interests. As progressives, as believers in anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism, lets not be so naive, and patronizing, to believe that the blood and sweat of working class people fighting for democracy is all in vain. That all the people in Tehran and Tripoli are mere puppets, being yanked this way and that way by calculating CIA operatives. I hope we can be more respectful of indigenous movements. I refuse to allow my identity as a progressive, as somebody who resists imperialism with mind and soul, to obscure the reality on the ground. And the reality is that the Libyan people are suffering and suffocating under Gadaffi’s armed and funded military regime. And we, as Americans, have the power, to do something about it. And we should.
Tags: act of war, Muammar Gadaffi, obama
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