Who are we defending?

When President Obama argued for a no-fly zone in Libya, he said that it was for humanitarian reasons, to save civilians from a terrible oppressor.  It struck me as weird that we seemed to be that concerned about the welfare of civilians in Libya when there are plenty of other countries—such as Iran—where civilian protestors are mistreated by the army.

As soon as Kaddafi’s headquarters got bombarded, the vast majority of news channels jumped to the conclusion that either the French or the British were responsible for firing these missiles and that the US had nothing to do with it.  But the problem is that the French and the British are operating under US command—under Obama’s command.  It seems totally hypocritical to point at your allies and proclaim: “it is them, not us!!!”  Moreover, just a few days after the facts, Obama declared that getting rid of Kaddafi was a priority.  Wait… I thought we went into Libya for humanitarian reasons, for the sake of the people, and that we had no business in the interior affairs of a foreign country.

Consequently, I am deeply worried about two things.  First, since when can we just intervene in a foreign country that is experiencing civil unrest?  This is not genocide, nor is it mass murdering: it’s civil war, and it happens.  So what’s next?  What could stop the UN to implement a no-fly zone over Israel with the excuse that it is exercises excessive force over the Gaza strip.  Now that a precedent has been set, what could possibly stop the allied forces of the West to make Israel their own business, just as they are now doing with Libya?  The second thing that worries me has been voiced by a few people over the past few days.  That question is pretty straight forward: who are we really helping?  The problem with the current protests plaguing the Middle East is that nobody knows for sure who is fighting the establishment.  And more and more indications point to Islamist organizations.  True, Kaddafi is a bad guy; he committed terrible crimes, both against his people and against other countries.  But for the past few years, he has actually been trying to fit in with the West, stopped his nuclear program and attempted to join various international institutions by making further concessions.  We knew who we dealt with, knew what to expect.  But now, who are we helping rise to power by weakening Kaddafi?  Is it the Muslim Brotherhood?  Al Qaeda?  Perhaps our old little secular Kaddafi was actually effective in keeping Islamic forces at bay.  Are we helping our future enemies rise to power?  Why enter the realm of the unknown, with so many unanswered questions, when we had tangible facts in the previous state of affairs?

So I’m worried; worried about Obama’s decisions and the way he by-passed Congress; worried about the West and its involvement in another country's interior affairs; worried about what’s coming next in and after Libya.