+1 billion! This is so brazenly obvious that it is shameful. All world governments have to do say the US, hey, they said your mama is whore, and here comes the Ronald Reagan, the Eisenhower, and the few and the proud. The military was not designed to be used this way. Our charter is to have the strongest military in the world as deterrence, not as an imperial war machine!
It also reminds me of the time when Bush urged the Kurds to rebel against Saddam. They did, hoping for support. We watched a little, then said "Pfft" and turned away. They got slaughtered. I wonder if that's the plan. Offer just enough aid to appear to help the rebels but not so much that they win. Let them get wiped out, The One gets his war stripe, everybody gets oil, Qaddafi gets to stay in power with less troublemakers and bonus reps for standing up to The Great Satan. Stability is (re)achieved. Sucks to be the rebels, but everybody else wins.
You're telling me that no combination of countries in NATO has enough of an air force to stop Gaddafi? It sounds like we are carrying way too much of the "protect europe" load.
People starve to death in North Korea but we kick Libya's ass to "protect Libyan citizens". Solve the Korean problem Mr. Obama. Massively increase food aid. Covertly attempt to assassinate Kim Jong Il. Buy off the generals. Supply the south with drones and every other modern weapon imaginable. The Hermit State is slaughtering its "citizens" by starvation. Fuck Libya. They have full bellys and want for nothing except some political notion of freedom.