by Maisie Allison
Matt Welch warns against premature end zone taunting:
I'm happy to see Qadaffi on the run, but I'd be happier still if A) it had been accomplished and owned by the oppressed people of Libya themselves (which would have been less than easy, to say the least), B) if the action didn't require breaking U.S. law and lowering the intervention bar even further; and C) if the trend line in U.S. foreign policy dominance and spending wasn't continuing to drive us toward imperial bankruptcy.
E.D. Kain adds that he fears the Qaddafi's departure will "strengthen the hand of the neocons and hawks":
I won’t mourn the passing of the Libyan regime. Gaddafi is a monster. I’m sure new, lesser monsters will now attempt to rule over the Libyan people once the current monster is undone. And we will turn our gaze toward Syria and Iran, toward other monsters doing other monstrous things. We can work to end these horrors through freedom of trade and freedom of movement and the persistent advocacy of civil liberties. Bullets are a lousy substitute.
Spencer Ackerman wants to know what comes next:
Getting rid of Gadhafi is the easy part. The last 10-15 years are a testimony to the hubris of considering an internal conflict concluded once a belligerent government has lost power. I'm not going to insult your intelligence by playing fake Libya expert. But the rebel coalition is united by the singular purpose of defeating Gadhafi, so its cohesive strength as a governing force is about to face its greatest test. Purge the government of Gadhafi loyalists and risk a backlash; let them remain under amnesty and risk fracturing the coalition. What will the military do? What are the prospects for a revanchist insurgency in Gadhafi's name — or, if he survives ouster, his command? How does NATO avoid post-Gadhafi intervention?
Greg Scoblete has related questions:
[W]hat is our obligation to secure the new regime against a potential insurgency? It's quite possible that the Libyan aftermath proceeds fairly smoothly, with minimal need for an outside stabilization force to restore order – and here's hoping – but if it doesn't?
And Freddie DeBoer isn't celebrating:
The next few days will be awash in an unseemly but profoundly American "party like Osama just got killed" revelry. The truth of life for your average Libyan won't settle for months or years.
The Dish 