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The Peak of Absurdity?
Tripoli and other Qadhdhafi-held areas of Libya are now suffering from crippling shortages of both food and fuel. I want to prepare you all for the very real possibility that the United Nations or other multi- or international organizations will have to provide humanitarian relief to the people of Tripoli in the near future -- because the international community earlier intervened on behalf of Libyan rebels and has now enabled those rebels to march on those areas loyal to Qadhdhafi. If you're confused by war waged via the logic of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect ... you're not alone.
UPDATE: From a reader...
FYI, WFP has been sending in thousands of metric tons of food to Gaddafi controlled areas for well over a month, purchase with funding from USAID, among others.
Ostensibly this food is being distributed by the Libyan Red Crescent to various bakeries from distribution to the public, but trust me when I say they have absolutely know way to verify this.
I've been participating in this "humanitarian intervention" since the end of February, and I really don't have a fucking clue what we're doing here.
FYI, WFP has been sending in
FYI, WFP has been sending in thousands of metric tons of food to Gaddafi controlled areas for well over a month, purchase with funding from USAID, among others.
Ostensibly this food is being distributed by the Libyan Red Crescent to various bakeries from distribution to the public, but trust me when I say they have absolutely know way to verify this.
I've been participating in this "humanitarian intervention" since the end of February, and I really don't have a fucking clue what we're doing here. There are NGOs that are basically serving as field medics for the rebels and others that are delivering supplies to warehouses that are already overflowing with materials. The impressive response of the Libyan diaspora, combined with the continuously impressive lack of information gathered by the international community, makes our current presence here not very effective.
In my opinion everyone, Libyans included, would have been better off if NATO had dropped a few bombs on the 17th and then been done with the whole thing.
Great comment, Visitor 9:09.
Great comment, Visitor 9:09. Thanks for the update.
Exum, you must be one of
Exum, you must be one of those Reagan Democrats. Dixie Blue Dogs.....
Look who is running the show. It makes all the sense in the world. Obama and Hillary have been redefining things all their lives, it is all about law their way. They are professional politicians and lawyers. Problem is they are not good enough to cheat death, if they could they would send troops into battle with out bullets. That is the real paradox in their ideology.
When you redefine the American Military as an AID organization, you have Libya. Rwanda must have really stuck in Hillary's throat. Guess that explains Monica.
US welfare programs do not discriminate. We give aid to everyone (people that really need it, drug users, people that scam the system, non-US citizens, and to criminals....and yes to the rich...believe it or not food stamps in Palm Beach ).
Why not to Gadhafi?
"If you're confused by war
"If you're confused by war waged via the logic of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect ... you're not alone."
It's the flip side of Orwell. War really is peace. There are those that believe that the future of conflict is that it must in all cases be governed by a policing paradigm. People who provide clean needles to junkies should have no problem providing clean water to enemy civilians.
"People who provide clean
"People who provide clean needles to junkies should have no problem providing clean water to enemy civilians."
Who is the enemy in Libya, again? Is it the Libyans who support Kaddafi? Really? They've never done anything to me or to the West AFAIK -- though after we've bombed the hell out of their country and encouraged general chaos, I don't expect anyone on *either* side to like us from now on.
Libya, to me, is one of
Libya, to me, is one of several indicators showing that the rate of the US government's decay is no longer linear but has entered an exponential phase. The others include the economy, the war in Afghanistan, our support for various Middle Eastern revolutions, and the racist flash mobs erupting in major US cities. The government's ability to make accurate assessments of the world outside the Beltway, make decisions, impose its will on its own citizens and other countries. The OODA loop is destroyed, to the extent that if the government were a man, he would be staggering down the street high on PCP, swinging at invisible monsters.
If you went back to 1984 and told Reagan that in a mere quarter of a century, his country would have degenerated to the point where conquering an independent Libya with no Soviet backing was beyond its capabilities, he would have...I don't know. Declared martial law and commenced the purges? Surrendered to the USSR? I mean, this is complete imperial collapse we're witnessing.
THE U.S. HAS FREE MONEY AND
THE U.S. HAS FREE MONEY AND FOOD!
It's going to come to a head soon. There will be one hell of a revolution...of our own.
Look what we do for dead-beat's in our own society! We feed them too! And you think feeding Gaddafi and his people comes as a suprise?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7XA2UUpXRk
I'm sure Gaddafi is saying.... "I appreciate it USA"! "Thanks for the food!"
AM, have you seen the news on Walid Shoebat, self-proclaimed former PLO Terrorist who is giving profiling classes to the Department of Homeland Security on Radical Muslims? Hilarious stuff... Wow...our country is so f--ked up it's not funny. Shoebat should be deported immediately and a few people from DHS should be disciplined for hiring this quack.
Andrew, if you don't
Andrew, if you don't understand this, then you actually don't understand international humanitarian law or the fundamentals of humanitarian relief. American money provided humanitarian relief to Afghanistan under the Taliban, and still provides relief to insurgent controlled areas in Afghanistan, too, and to Afghan IDPs displaced by ISAF operations. Not to mention Al Shabab controlled areas of Somalia, etc. That's because it's humanitarian - distributed primarily on the basis of the needs of civilians, rather than political considerations. Whether you agree with humanitarianism or not (and in case it's not obvious, humanitarianism is largely distinct from 'humanitarian intervention') it's been an established principle since 1949.
But more to the point - why do you find this apparent contradiction between political goals and humanitarian action so ridiculous in Libya when it is equally present in U.S. wars that you support (e.g. Afghanistan)?
Seriously - you're brilliant when you write about the stuff you're well-versed in, but every time you write about humanitarian intervention and R2P you do yourself a disservice. There's plenty to critique in this area, but as you have pointed out when others wade into your issues without a decent background in the subject, any critique should start with an in-depth understanding of the issue.
MK...on July 29, 2011 -
MK...on July 29, 2011 - 7:12am
I really do not have a problem with helping people, do have a problem with being stupid. Problem with bureaucracies is once they get rolling it is hard to stop them.
From the perspective of the people paying for the tab, Libya is one bitched up operation. I can not find one person that can make sense out of Libya and I know a lot of people. US and NATO have wrapped lies around a NFZ to put aircraft in ground support roles. I would wager that more people have gotten killed in this lie, than if Gadhafi had rolled into town shooting every Libyan in sight.
Haiti is a poster child for humanitarianism. Money goes in and nothing comes out. Christ, UN is fighting a war in Somalia (again) just to be humanitarian. How many times do you have to shoot a person to get close enough to stick a spoon in their mouth?
There is a point that peace keeping and aid strategy conflict. Common sense is timeless.
If you want to pay taxes for this, then dig deep and send in your hard earned cash. Many people that I know do not like putting their savings into a rat hole, they would rather see the aid go to their local communities that are not getting the funding they use to.
How's the US debt these days? Nuf said.
"That's because it's
"That's because it's humanitarian - distributed primarily on the basis of the needs of civilians, rather than political considerations."
LOL, as if feeding the enemy population is not a political act. If the Right actually believes the Left provides aid and comfort to the enemy for "non-political" reasons, then the Right truly is the Stupid Party.
>Andrew, if you don't
>Andrew, if you don't understand this, then you actually don't understand international humanitarian law or the fundamentals of humanitarian relief. American money provided humanitarian relief to Afghanistan under the Taliban, and still provides relief to insurgent controlled areas in Afghanistan, too, and to Afghan IDPs displaced by ISAF operations. Not to mention Al Shabab controlled areas of Somalia, etc. That's because it's humanitarian - distributed primarily on the basis of the needs of civilians, rather than political considerations.
Yeah, we're filling the pockets of the enemy and the mouths of their supporters while we're at war. Nothing political about it. Pure humanitarianism. Hippie Jesus smiles upon us all. We're such humanitarians that we prolong the wars of our countries by propping up the people we're fighting and hampering our own warriors with incessant demands for operational constraints, so that we can keep our jobs which involve handouts to those affected by the continuing violence, and build up our humanitarian credentials.
It takes a super-smart person to understand the humanitarianism of this model. Anybody dumber would just use Occam's Razor and perceive the participants as useful idiots at best and despicable traitors at worst.
It's been an established
It's been an established principle since 1949.
Wow. Truly Timeless. Year Zero of course being when? 1945 and the UN Charter?
I think Year Zero begins every morning for some of us, mostly on the Left.
2 words for all the suffering Libyans.
Fuck.Them.
Uggs boots are what are known
Uggs boots are what are known by some as sheepskin boots. These boots have been made in Australia for tens if not hundreds of years, and are well known all over Australia. However now they are making an impact on foriegn markets.
This is a total absurd! Who
This is a total absurd! Who would have allowed this? I don't thin that we live in a safe world anymore.
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I have not heard of any new
I have not heard of any new of this absurd magnitude in quite a while - but only goes to show that truth is stranger than fiction. Reverse Cell Phone Lookup | Landscape Lights | Pellet Stoves
Absurd is correct. I cant
Absurd is correct. I cant believe this and it really bothers me to read stuff like this. Nevertheless, thanks for putting it up.
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all of this stuff is getting
all of this stuff is getting out of control. what can we do to help?
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