It's a new world

[werepossum]

lets give them the same chance the US had....


lets not look at that part of the world trough western eyes though since thats the fastest way to disappointment....

Actually Libya had exactly the same chance the US had. Libya was taken over as a colony of several European powers at different times and places. America was taken over as a colony of several European powers at different times and places, and I think everyone would agree that the native Libyans got dinner and a movie compared to the native Americans. Americans consciously rejected authoritarian regimes and embraced representative democracy. Libya consciously rejected representative democracy and embraced authoritarian regimes.

I tentatively support our supporting France and its European/Commonwealth coalition, but let's not romanticize the situation. The European Judeo-Christian culture is simply morally and ethically superior to the Arab Muslim culture. Hopefully this civil war will improve things there and we'll be glad we participated, but at best they will be a couple centuries late to the party.

 

[Genx87]

Popularity has nothing to do with it.

Yes, it does.

 

[sandorski]

Yes, it does.

/facepalm

 

[Craig234]

Why? Because an uprising in Libya is so popular it needs Nato to do its job?

I try to avoid your posts, but see one like this and it reminds me why, you don't understand that military/mercenaries versus civilian doesn't prove it's not popular?

 

[Moonbeam]

The ME has tons of desert for solar power and the money to build it. They have oceans to desalinate with that power.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

I have to say, I love what I'm seeing in the Middle East. For the first time in my life, I can honestly say that I'm hopeful for the future there. By the time I'm old and gray, I'll bet we'll see a prosperous and safe group of nations there, with a quality of life that meets or exceeds that of Europe.

I really like NATO's strategy in Libya. Gadhafi is already calling for a cease fire. He can't handle losing the only power he has - a corrupt military that is still listening to him, probably with a gun to their heads.

Now that other nations can see what will happen to them if they try this crap, the momentum is on the side of the protesters.

I really hope that in a month or so we can look back upon the dark ages where the people in that area were exploited and had no freedom. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

To be honest, the UN requested the intervention here, i like that, i was involved in both Bosnia and Kosovo and i liked my mission, we has the support of a world community, we were supported by everyone but Russia (who we didn't give a shit about) and the Serbs (the most evil Christian torturers you can imagine, fully on scale with the Muslim Taliban).

This no fly zone with the addition of civilian defense in area sanctioned by the UN under international peoples rights law is something that hasn't happened since my grandfather was in Kongo.

So good on you USA for sticking to your principles and demanding it, good for you France for taking the lead and the UK for providing the backup.

This time, we got it right. It's not in my future but if it was, i would gladly work with this.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

The ME has tons of desert for solar power and the money to build it. They have oceans to desalinate with that power.

Sure, sell the US in it's entirety and you might afford to supply enough for Italy.

In reality the happy numbers are so way off that even the saharan desert in it's entirey cannot work, especially not since you got a sheitload of electrical power needed in the northern hemisphere, about 30x what the southern uses per year just to keep it warm, not to mention that just providing the electricity would be impossible.

Thorium reactors, gets rid of the waste we have and if they are disrupted, they just stop, not much more radioactivity than what our C-14 bodies already produce.


The future is nuclear, thorium with exponential energy usage will last thousands of years, the problem was after Harrisburg and Tjernobyl a lot of people stopped investing in the future, now that Japan has another scare, most will stop investing again, yes, we are that stupid.

 

[nCred]

They will not be successful unless there's a cultural change.

 

[Craig234]

They will not be successful unless there's a cultural change.

What do you know about the culture of Libya's people?

What is the problem with the culture that led them to courageously rise up here?

We Americans can't even oppose the corporate corruption of our own country.

We could learn some things from the current uprisings.

Not saying to do them here, but to organize against the corruption.

 

[Genx87]

I try to avoid your posts, but see one like this and it reminds me why, you don't understand that military/mercenaries versus civilian doesn't prove it's not popular?

How did other nations, run by dictators, ever fall when they had a military? And I never said it wasnt popular. I said it wasnt popular enough and requires NATO to do its job for them.