General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: For all the cheerleaders who thought overthrowing Qaddafi was such a great idea [View all]zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)When people ask for help, you choose what kind of help to give. You don't have to choose to give the kind for which they ask.
We seem to believe that the most effective help we can give comes at the point of a gun. The UN has a whole commission that offers to help people in countries like Libya, but they are universally ignored. There was plenty of help we could, and did, offer Libya but the accepted none of it. And that was predictable up front. They had been under the regime for years. Suddenly we are suppose to use our guns to "free" them. But it was predictable that what we would free them to do was kill each other on their own. All regrettable, but all also predictable and implies that we should choose more carefully before we start shooting.
What do we do for people living under oppressive regimes? I'd suggest we use the State Department, not the Defense Department. And we should start WELL before their people start choosing violent revolution. We have tried for decades to help Haiti, it hasn't gone well. Maybe we should perfect that before we start shooting half way around the world.