By Shoshana Bryen
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) asserted that the U.S. Air Force could and should “flatten the Libyan Air Force.” We seem to have wandered through other people’s conversations about a) no fly zones; b) ground troops; and c) helping the Libyan rebels.
No, no. Managing a “no fly zone” implies a long term commitment the U.S. government should not make; our ground troops are quite fully committed elsewhere, thank you; and we have no particular interest in “helping” rebels we do not know and who, according to the newspapers, want their rescue to be divine and immaculate with no American or British fingerprints. None of that would be good policy.
The point was and remains that the Libyan military has undertaken indiscriminate action against Libyan towns and villages. The point was for the United States to punish the perpetrators, remove a weapon from their arsenal and show in a concrete and specific way that the United States does not accept the bombardment of cities and civilians. It was as much for us to make ourselves clear about the limits of our tolerance as it was for the Libyans.
With rebellion sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa, it is tempting simply to cheer the demise of detestable governments. But it may also be the beginning of a period of chaos in which people that are similarly detestable take control.
Remember Egypt? Since we stopped watching, a Muslim mob attacked thousands of Christians who were protesting the burning of a Cairo church. At least 13 people were killed and about 140 wounded, according to the Associated Press. The latest interreligious contretemps began with a mixed Muslim/Christian couple whose relationship set off a violent feud between their families. Tuesday, Egyptian women, marking UN Women’s Day with a march in Cairo calling for political and social equality, were set upon by mobs of angry men who sexually assaulted them. The Washington Post reports that women were repeatedly groped and fondled by men who taunted them in the streets.
The wars we are currently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan were related to American policy goals. The Afghan war began when the Taliban refused to turn over al Qaeda leadership after the attacks of 9-11-2001. The Iraq war was the culmination of 12 years of increasingly unstable “no fly zones” (We never intended to be there that long; how long would we be in Libya?), crumbling sanctions, Saddam’s support for terrorist organizations and our belief that Saddam maintained weapons of mass destruction in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. American military involvement – at least initially – was related to American national interest.
Our interest in Libya is limited to its export of oil and possibly the prevention of war crimes. On the first, it would be wiser to compensate by drilling our own at home. On the second, reducing Gaddafi’s military assets as a unilateral or allied action would be better than becoming involved on one side of an emerging Libyan civil war.
In no case should the United States ask the Saudis to arm unknown revolutionaries (see Afghanistan, above). And in any case, the Administration should stake out its position and take its action.
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Bryen is senior director of security policy of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Her column is sponsored by Waxie Sanitary Supply in memory of Morris Wax, longtime JINSA supporter and national board member. She may be contacted at shoshana.bryen@sdjewishworld.com