What’s Our Goal in Libya?

My concern with the Libyan war is that we do not have a clearly defined goal other than to stop the killing of civilians. The UN and Obama have said that’s the goal of Operation Odyssey Dawn and do not talk about regime change. But it’s hard to see how this ends without toppling Qaddafi. Even so, unless he is killed or captured, he could go underground and fight an insurgency like Saddam did in Iraq or the Taliban did in Afghanistan. In this part of the world, they see peace as a temporary lull between wars, not as an end to the fighting.

What if Qaddafi promises to stop killing the rebels? Do we accept him at his word, pack up and go home? Or if Qaddafi prevails in western Libya and the rebels and coalition forces hold eastern Libya?

The hard part will come after the fighting;: who are the rebels? Can they lead Libya after Qaddafi? Will the coalition government’s end up occupying Libya in a transition phase while we nation build? Almost all the wars of intervention we have fought post-WWII have fallen victim to mission creep, where the mission keeps growing larger and larger, but the resources committed to achieving it do not.

This is our third war in the Middle East, but its a different kind of war, a war of intervention. Its not a war of self defense, or preemption or to punish those who have killed Americans. Its a war to stop a leader from killing his own people. What precedent does this set for the inevitable next round of uprisings in the Middle East? What if Iran’s leaders kill their own people, do we get involved there? Bahrain, Syria?