Recently, the United States made some questionable decisions in regards to Libya.
Many world leaders have been urging Libyan leader Col. Moammar Qaddafi to step down and relinquish his power. Even the United States got involved.
Many Libyans have been fighting for freedom during Qaddafi’s regime. Rebels started protests and incited violence throughout the county.
This past February, the violence in Libya took a turn for the worst. Though it began with a relatively organized core of anti-government opponents in Benghazi, its spread to the capital of Tripoli was swift and spontaneous, according to the New York Times.
Colonel Qaddafi turned into an oppressive and violent leader towards his people, which obviously caused the citizens of Libya to rise up and fight for their freedom.
“Colonel Qaddafi lashed out with a level of violence unseen in either of the other uprisings, but an inchoate opposition cobbled together the semblance of a transitional government, fielded a makeshift rebel army and portrayed itself to the West and Libyans as an alternative to Colonel Qaddafi’s corrupt and repressive rule.”
The United States has been under a lot of criticism for their efforts to get Qaddafi out. Obama tried to go around the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which calls for an authorization for congress to start operations in Libya. I believe this caused country wide criticism and the drop in approval ratings.
“There has been increasing hostility toward the Obama administration in the House among both Democrats who oppose the war and many Republicans who cite Constitutional issues over the president’s refusal to seek authorization from Congress for the operations in Libya. They say such authorization is required by the 1973 War Powers Resolution,” stated Jennifer Steinhauer, on The Caucus.
The problem with The United States and other countries getting involved is that they try to fix other countries’ problems and can’t fix their own. If the Libyans want freedom from their leader, they should fight for it themselves, like American soldiers do every day. It is not necessary to always get involved in other countries problems.
Obama is even planning to give money to the new government to be established in Libya.
“The Obama administration is working to find ways to provide financial assistance to the rebels in Libya, but the administration intends to maintain a freeze on $37 billion in Libyan assets until it is clear that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and his supporters no longer have access to the country’s financial system,” said Edward Wyatt in a recent New York Times article.
How is America supposed to fund a new government, when America is in so much debt? President Obama just raised our debt ceiling and is looking for way to make cuts. This isn’t going to help the crisis we are in or help the job situation either.
The country should not be looking for a way to get around an authorization or freeze, when the country cannot really afford to fund another government. The big reason for any country to help is because Libya is a big oil producer and the countries are looking to find other places besides Afghanistan to get oil.
Helping others is important to a society, but not in every situation. Also a country must be able to afford to help and take the consequences that follow. Finally, a country should be able to fight for its own rights at times, as Libya has with its rebels. A country will not make it if it relies on other countries to bail it out of a crisis every time.
