Proceed carefully in Libya
The early days of the world's intervention in Libya have gone about as expected.
Despite the multinational nature of the initiative, American forces were paramount in the hard work of taking out air defenses. The Arab League, which requested foreign intervention, soon complained that it was insufficiently gentle. The allies bickered over who should be in charge. Complaints arose in Congress. And Russia criticized a United Nations authorizing resolution that it could easily have vetoed.
The good news is that the operation has succeeded at preventing mass slaughter by the forces of Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's despot. Yet for the global community -- and for the United States, which inevitably bears the greatest burden in such ventures no matter how ostentatiously multilateral -- the hard part has only just begun.
First, the allies must decide who will run their complex military effort and how best to coordinate it. The Obama administration wisely aims to hand control to one or more of its partners (these include Britain, France and Italy) or NATO. And now that Libyan air defenses have mostly been neutralized, we can at least fantasize that our allies will shoulder more of the no-fly burden. More effort (and less disingenuous rhetoric) from the Arab League would be especially welcome. So far, Qatar reportedly has committed a few jets.
Minimizing U.S. involvement is important for many reasons. We're already embroiled in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we already have too many enemies in the Middle East. The global community, so adept at criticizing, must get used to taking a bigger role when it decides intervention is warranted.
The allies will also have to figure out how much support to give the rebels and in what form. At the very least, the coalition must work to get them better organized, to the extent this is possible without inserting troops, and to channel rebel political efforts toward democracy.
Ideally, Gadhafi can be deposed fairly quickly and rebel leaders can administer the country as all parties embark on a democratic process culminating in elections. A descent into tribalism must be avoided. Our goal should be to make sure that a post-Gadhafi Libya, assuming we can achieve one, doesn't turn into anything like Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. That is a real danger, given the extent to which tyrants in both places have suppressed independent institutions.
At least since Truman, American presidents have been willing to commit U.S. forces to conflicts without congressional approval. We're uneasy with this dubious tradition. Yet despite some bipartisan carping, Congress has mostly been silent about our Libyan foray. If it drags on, that silence won't last, so it's important for Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to keep congressional leaders informed and involved. For its part, Congress should watch closely to make sure we aren't headed for another bloody and wasteful military misadventure.
Our country may yet be. So let's remind ourselves once again that America can't solve all the world's problems. Now that U.S. forces are engaged, we fervently hope our nation can help solve this one. hN
