Libya: The End of the Beginning

I have taken up space in the electronic ether twice before on the general subject of Libya: once on March 22, just days after President Obama ordered a cruise missile attack on Tripoli, and again on August 16, when I raised the prospect of revenge killings on a large scale and what that might portend for a NATO policy ostensibly based on humanitarian considerations. It seems fitting, therefore, that I do so again now that Muammar Qaddafi has met his fate. As before, I find that the general reaction, at least in the United States, to the events portrayed in the news is a curious one that does not rest easily with what the future is sure to bring. As before, the reason is the same: a twin lack of knowledge and curiosity about the country and culture that is the object of our supposed interest.