Now that the U.S. is bombing Gadahfi’s compound, capital, tanks and soldiers, more than likely, the Libyan rebels fighting Gadahfi probably also see us as an enemy combatant in their civil war against the long-reigning tyrant, who has vowed to keep fighting.
A little while ago I wrote on how the best course of action for the U.S. to take in Libya would’ve been to let the two sides fight it out. That way the U.S. could establish relations with whoever turned out to be the victor. I gave a couple of reasons why the U.S. shouldn’t take part in the conflict, namely that our forces were already stretched thin by two wars and our budget situation is bleak with a $14 trillion-plus deficit.
There were other reasons for the U.S. to keep its nose out of the conflict. For one, Gadahfi is said to have been behind the murder of 190 Americans in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Gadahfi was also said to be behind the bombing of a Berlin nightclub that killed two U.S. servicemen while injuring 50 others. However, Gadahfi disavowed terrorism after the show of U.S. force in Afghanistan and Iraq during George W. Bush’s presidency. As a result, the U.S. established relations with Gadahfi, helping the U.S. economy while ensuring that he stayed away from terrorism and biological weapons.
Now there are fears that Gadahfi may retaliate against Europe and the U.S. with terrorist attacks should he survive this civil war. This leads some to conclude that now the U.S. needs to get rid of Gadahfi for the sake of national security. The only way to do so — regardless of what Pres. Barack Obama may tell you — is to put U.S. boots on the ground. If current events tell us anything, it’s that the Libyan rebels lack the military know-how, manpower and firepower to overthrow Gadahfi by themselves.
The problem is that once the U.S. puts soldiers and Marines on the ground it will face the same dilemmas it did in Iraq, that of nation-building and an insurgency. Say what you want about Gadahfi, but the man has thousands of people willing to fight and die for him. That’s why he is so strong in his hometown of Sirt and in other tribal areas that remained loyal to him. If the U.S. puts in ground forces, it will almost certainly face an insurgency from the loyalist-minority like it did from the Sunnis after it toppled Hussein. Such a drawn-out, nation-building task will require thousands of U.S. troops. This is unacceptable.
Yet the U.S. is already involved in this conflict and it cannot afford to lose it. Consequently, the U.S. should make the best of its already muddy situation. It has Gadahfi on the ropes and he seems willing to negotiate, consider his calls for U.N. representatives to visit his country as well as his pleas to European powers and Obama. Gadahfi desires to survive. The U.S. should use that desire to its advantage: allow Gadahfi to maintain Western Libya; have him promise to refrain from foreign terrorism; re-establish economic ties with him, giving him a reason to have friendly relations with the West; generate some sort of oil revenue-sharing deal between him and the rebels; make Ajdabiya a part of Eastern Libya while the refinery cities of al-Brega and Ras Lanuf will be governed by a U.N. force manned by the European powers. Europe pushed for this war. Let them bear the brunt of its costs.
Brian Cuaron is a CSULB alumnus and a former Daily 49er staffer.
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