Washington sabotaged its own “war on terror” by destabilizing the Middle East even as it coddled the U.S. allies who were actually sponsoring terrorism.
Why Washington’s War on Terror Failed
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libya intervention
Libya: A Cautionary Tale
Beset by infighting among militias and rampant arms trafficking, Libya in 2014 is a cautionary tale about the long-term consequences of military intervention.
NATO on Viagra
At 65, NATO should get off its new meds and act its age. It’s time for downsizing and memoir-writing, not hanky-panky in the east.
South Sudan: Colonialism’s Dead Hand
A studied refusal to pay attention to South Sudan’s colonial history helped ignite the current crisis.
Strategic Dialogue: Libya after Gaddafi
In this strategic dialogue, Michael Berube and David Gibbs reply to each other’s initial essays on the legacy of the NATO intervention in Libya.
Libya for Libyans
I write in late December 2011, as the United States finally withdraws combat troops from Iraq, and the likely Republican nominee for president in 2012, Mitt Romney, criticizes President Obama for his “precipitous” withdrawal. Nearly nine years in Iraq in a disastrous war of choice is apparently not enough for dead-ender hawks like Romney, who, undaunted by the long debacle, continue to insist that the United States should leave up to 30,000 troops in the country–perhaps in partial fulfillment of John McCain’s suggestion that the United States remain in Iraq for 100 years.
Libya and the New Warmongering
The NATO intervention in Libya is likely to produce a more militarized and insecure world, and this will be its most enduring legacy. The military “success”in Libya has increased the possibility of new wars. There is a widespread perception that NATO has achieved an easy victory against Gaddafi, and the resulting sense of hubris augments the risk of future military actions against Iran, Syria, and other possible targets. Politicians in NATO countries surely welcome the public distraction that war provides, especially in the context of the world-wide economic slump, and this may prove an additional motivation for new military action.
The Price of the Libya Intervention: Surface to Air Missiles for All
Enough surface-to-air missiles have disappeared in Libya to turn all of North Africa into a no-fly zone.
Why Are Some Progressives Gloating over Libya?
One hopes this chapter ends happily for the Libyan people, and certainly the taunts of Libya hawks will be endurable if it does. But no progressive should celebrate yet another circumvention – this one by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, no less – of the mechanisms intended to prevent the wanton and unaccountable waging of war.
Emira Woods: Libya Must Shape its Own Future
As the Libyan people celebrate freedom from the rule of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, many are wondering what will come next for the North African nation. In an interview at 12:30 PM EDT, Emira Woods, Co-Director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, stresses the need for the Libyan people to seize the opportunity to create a political and economic Libya that works for the benefit of all the people of Libya.
“After 42 years of Muammar el-Qaddafi, it is now long overdue for the Libyan people to determine their own destiny,” says Woods. “The question is, can this be a real revolution, where the interests of all the people are heard, are reflected, where the political infrastructure that is put into place is representative of all?”