Intervention in Libya: Done right -- so far

Can we please do it right this time?

We all feel sympathy for the people of Libya, who have been through more than any people should. Decades of brutality in the grip of Col. Moammar Gadhafi, followed by the slaughter of his unarmed critics in the street.

The Arab League has lined up against him. Even the Chinese, who are loathe to speak a syllable against any regime's brutality, could only muster an abstention in Friday's Security Council vote.

But as we've learned so painfully in Iraq and Afghanistan, solid motives do not a good war make. And if you don't know why you're there as you're arriving, you may never get to leave.

Just a few hours in, three crucial improvements:

A real coalition: It's nice that the French, British, Canadians and Italians are part of this team. But in a hurry, we need some Arab armies really fighting beside us. Do whatever it takes. Gadhafi only wins if this feels like another assault from the West.

Clear, limited aims: We're there to stop Gadhafi from massacring his people. Period. We should give his opponents the space to remove their own tyrant. Only the people of Libya can save Libya.

An exit strategy from the start: We are not there to nation build. We are not there to remake the Middle East. We are there to stop the evil of a despot. We should do that -- and then leave.

Those last words may be the most important of all: Then leave.

MARCH SADNESS

1. Charlie Sheen schedules a live appearance at Radio City Music Hall.

2. AP drops the hyphen in "email."3. Tiger Woods kicks off a talk-show tour.

4. Ed Mangano blames NIFA for layoffs.

5. Peter King wants more hearings.ASKED AND UNANSWERED: Can't we find a better name than the unfortunate "friendly fire"? . . . Who exactly am I supposed to be FOR? Charlie Sheen or Capri Anderson? Will these two work out their Plaza differences next month in the VIP room at the The Scene in Commack? . . . The Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip? Wait a second, I'm confused! . . . Honestly, a year ago, would you have predicted this: Comsewogue teachers swallow a pay freeze and $4,500 in givebacks, the 12th -- the 12th! -- LI district to do so? . . . Catch Howard Stern's Rolling Stone interview? When did Howard become quite so sensitive and deep? . . . Can this marriage be saved: Suffolk Exec Steve Levy and Suffolk Det. Sgt. Robert Reecks? How much longer 'til their angry snipes are logged as an official hate crime? . . . How much time will George Guldi get for his Westhampton Beach insurance-fraud conviction? Court guidelines say the former Suffolk legislator could be hit with up to 15 years . . . How did a .357 Magnum revolver, which Newark police say was used in the schoolyard slaying of three college-bound teens, end up at a reputed gang member's house in Bay Shore? Suffolk Det. Tom Hess clearly has some thoughts on that.

LONG ISLANDER OF THE WEEK: MICHELLE HACKMAN

Here's the great thing - one of many great things - about Michelle Hackman. All those stories about the Great Neck North High School senior's big success at this year's Intel Science Talent Search? They led with her fascinating cellphone-withdrawal experiment, her dream of a career in science, and the $75,000 prize she'd just won. Oh, and by the way, Michelle is blind. It's a testament to Michelle's persistence, intelligence and drive that her blindness was treated almost as an afterthought in descriptions of her. She's a great student, a thoughtful friend, a born adventurer and so much more. Congratulations, Michelle. You did us all proud.
 

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