There will not be peace and stability in Libya until Qadaffi and his children(who have proven themselves to be every bit as thuggish and deranged as their father) are dead or in prison. If he just steps down, then a fellow thug will take his place. This is not a peaceful revolution like in Egypt. The old guard can not be allowed to remain in power. This is a violent revolution and if you win you’re a founding father and if you lose you’re a corpse. There is no middle ground.
But taking out Qadaffi must be done by people of Libya, not outside forces, and especially not the West. However, Dave Anderson at Newshoggers suggests there are non-military ways the US could help.
There are many other ways the United States can side with Qaddafi’s opponents without committing scarce military, and diplomatic resources. The easiest and the cheapest is to begin broadcasting on every available frequency and web-channel the movement of Libyan government forces that are observed by US surveillance aircraft operating in international air space, or spotted by American satellites. The next is to sic the lawyers and accountants on regime cash flows with an offer that if Qaddafi and his inner circle agree to go into exile, they get to keep $3 billion dollars that they have siphoned overseas if they leave tomorrow, and $2.9 billion if they leave on Thursday and $2.8 billion if they leave on Friday…..
The longer Qadaffi stays in power, the worse the bloodshed will be as well as the distinct possibility of a civil war that will destabilize the entire region.
Death to tyrants. But Libyans must be the ones to do it, if they so choose.
spot on Bob
Thx!