Stephen Budiansky says it depends almost entirely on the chances of success:
It is a close question whether — in the short run, at least — our intervention in Libya is likely to do more good than harm. But I don't think it's close at all that it is extremely unlikely to succeed with the force we are willing and able to commit. That is a completely valid moral and practical consideration that deserved far more consideration than it got.
A just war is not merely a war fought in a good cause against a terrible tyrant; there are an infinity of good causes and no shortage of terrible tyrants. A just war is one that can justify the destruction it sows, and the enduring responsibility it entails.
(Photo: A Libyan rebel inspects a tank for Moamer Kadhafi's forces that was destroyed by a NATO bombing and left at a garage in the severely destroyed Tripoli street of the besieged city of Misrata on April 26, 2011. Misrata remains besieged by Kadhafi's troops to the east, south and west, with its only access to the outside world by sea. By Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images)
The Dish 