What are we going to do now in Libya?
The rationale behind America's intervention in Libya's civil war was that, absent immediate assistance, Gaddafi's forces would commit a massacre of civilians in the city of Benghazi that would have "stained the conscience of the world." Yet in the city of Misrata, the humanitarian situation seems just as dire, with between 300 to 1,000 civilians killed.
So what is the West going to do? NATO commanders are admitting there's not much they can do from the air and insisting that they won't send in ground troops, while the UK, Italy and France send in advisors. The Obama administration is going to kick in $25 million in money it doesn't have to buy things for the rebels, while loudly insisting it's wary about what it's doing.
The war in Libya is highlighting the contradictions of a limited war waged for humanitarian purposes with political goals (i.e. the removal of Gaddafi) that are out in front of what the combatants are willing to commit.
The question now becomes how far the Obama administration is willing to go to save face.
(AP Photo)
