Another Mideast War. Here We Go Again.

Image via WikipediaOn the eighth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the United States and its "coalition of the willing" have launched another military assault on another Middle Eastern country to take out another hated dictator.

This time it's Libya and their leader Muammar Gadhafi, who was this close to defeating a poorly trained and equipped band of rebels who dared to oppose him, while the rest of the world was preoccupied with the disaster in Japan.

French warplanes and American missiles have destroyed some of Gadhafi's air defenses in and around Tripoli, the Libyan capital.  That has allowed opposition forces to move west from its besieged stronghold of Benghazi.  The Pentagon says plans are in place to implement a 'no-fly zone' in western Libya, so they could make it more difficult for Gadhafi's forces to move around.

President Barack Obama, who made the decision after getting the United Nations' blessing while visiting South America, has said (in so many words) that he couldn't stand back and watch Gadhafi use his military to punish his countrymen.  Isn't this sounding a tad familiar?

We are told that this would be a military operation with limited American participation, and that they are not going to try and take Gadhafi down.  However, as we have learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, limited wars have a way of turning into long-term conflicts.  American soldiers are still in both countries thanks to poor planning, failure to put down an emboldened insurgency, and lack of an exit strategy.

So what makes President Obama think Libya is going to be any different?  After all the airstrikes, soldiers will still have to be sent in for mop-up operations.  And who knows what kind of government will emerge if the rebels are somehow victorious?

Then again, the usually unpredictable Gadhafi will try to find a way to retaliate and keep himself in power.  He could, for example, order a hit on a plane full of passengers.  That's been done before, and the relatives of those who were killed in the skies over Lockarbie, Scotland are still trying to deal with it.

What does all this say about Obama, who was elected to undo the damage caused by the previous President?  Well, with two wars still going and a third on the way, President Obama is rapidly becoming the Democrats' answer to George W. Bush.  How disappointing.