Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

rebellion

Libya is not Iraq: Three Victories in Tripoli

As is often noted, we all have a tendency to fight the previous war. Just as the ‘quagmire’ of Vietnam led to reluctance to intervene in Bosnia (at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives), so too the successes of Kosovo led to the peremptory and ill planned interventionism of Iraq.

But Libya is not Iraq. As jubilant crowds fill Green Square, the fall of Tripoli to the rebels is a victory on many counts

Cheering People Dying? Or Spring Movements? Open Thread

It’s a fair point. As the sound of anti-craft fire combined with the distant crumps of explosions disturb the Libyan night, it’s a fair point: are we celebrating death? Are we cheering on exactly the same kind of indiscriminate slaughter which was unleashed in Vietnam and Cambodia, and more recently in Iraq? Democracy, founded on debate and dissent, should never try to silence those questions. It should ask them. Ask them of ourselves, and those in Government, or the Armed Forces, who seek to represent and defend us.

But for once, this isn’t about us. The uprisings in the Maghreb and Mashriq, the revolutions in the Arab World from Morocco to Yemen, Tunisia to Syria, have not been led by us. It’s a spring awakening, as important as 1968 or 1848.

Hat tip to Fogiv for the video

From Darkness to (Odyssey) Dawn

Transcript from The Journeying Progressive’s speech today (downtown Kansas City, MO):

“Good afternoon. It is dark right now in the nation of Libya. For the past month, the world has watched a selfish dictator brutally suppress the protests of a people in crisis. Today, the United States and her allies have said “Enough.”

Updatedx3: Libyan Ceasefire? In Defence of the Defenders: UN Resolution 1973

Though I understand the reservations about military action in any field, I felt a deep sense of relief when the UN Security Council voted through resolution 1973 last night UK time.

Why? Because in all the mess of the wars of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan, I always feared one of the casualties of those debacles would be the careful constructed Responsibility to Protect principle established after the genocide in Rwanda, and near genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo.

To me this isn’t about the right to wage war, but the responsibility to prevent it

The Realities of a "No-Fly Zone" – from someone who has been here before

PhotobucketWe’ve seen calls for a no-fly zone from several fronts ~ both at home and abroad.  It seems to be the favored form of intervention of British PM Cameron, US Senators McCain, Lieberman, and Kerry as well as any number of twitterers.  We have seen calls for a no-fly zone in Libya, too, to be sure.  On the flip side, Gaddafi has vowed to use whatever military he has to fight a no-fly zone.

Me?  I don’t mind the idea (those three years I spent as a Data Processing Technician in the Navy made me a military expert) as long as the US does not take the lead.  I firmly believe, as SoS Clinton has said recently, the UN and/or NATO and/or the Arab League should take the lead.

What I find intriguing are the thoughts of SecDef Gates who, as you know, is a holdover from the Bush Administration and former CIA deputy director for intelligence during the Reagan years.

OMG! The Right Has Officially Gone Off The Deep End

While checking my usual daily news and opinion sources I came across a link to a forum thread on Sean Hannity’s site. They aren’t called wing nuts for nothing.



Most political junkies will recall Bill O’Reilly’s rants about posts he found on dkos that upset him. His rants became a joke among those on the Left. Well, now the Right has gone even further. This is truly scary stuff. Or absolutely hilarious, depending on your take of it.

It takes so little to set them off. The post, by a forum member named FreedomWorks wonders what would happen if a revolution came about in the U.S.A. The poster wasn’t really advocating revolution. He was simply speculating about what it would mean for this country. His belief was that it would mean total anarchy. It was the comments that followed that went off the deep end.

There was also a poll that has apparently been taken down that asked “What kind of revolution appeals most to you – Military Coup, armed rebellion, or war for secession?” I didn’t see the poll, but from this post on balloonjuice.com “Armed Rebellion” was the preferred choice of the wing nuts.

As of this writing, “Armed Rebellion” is ahead with 40%; less than one in four support a military coup. The rest (about 36%) support a war for secession. (85 votes total)

Here are a few samples from the comments: