Choosing Libya

The rebellion in Libya is a supreme test of my deeply-held beliefs, forcing me to choose between my inherent support for people seeking justice and challenging ruling elites and my strong distrust of foreign military interventions by the US and its western allies. Juan Cole's "An Open Letter to the Left on Libya", lays out the circumstances and rationales that make the foreign intervention in Libya the best of some bad choices. Cole's logic impeccably follows the logic of Norman Graebner and is, for me, convincing.

The Libyan revolution/civil war may yet turn out ugly for all concerned but we can't know that now. We do know that the intervention evened up the odds between the sides and prevented Gaddafi from going on a house to house killing spree in Benghazi.

That's worth something.