If in fact the United Nations is prepared to impose a no-fly, no-drive zone on Libya, Andrew Sullivan asks a lot of pointed questions about what he calls an “imminent war.” The ones I am most interested in seeing answered:
If we are prepared to do this in Libya, why not in Congo, where the casualties and brutality have been immensely greater? Or Zimbabwe?
Why is Libya, why is the Maghreb, perceived as being worthy of all of this attention, all of this work, all of this wringing of hands to do something? Now don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying that the United States or United Nations should do something, which is always the code for “I have no idea what we should do but we shouldn’t do nothing,” in the DRC or Zimbabwe or Cote d’Ivoire, or what have you. But it is interesting how fast the demand for boots on the ground turns into action north of the Sahara.
