Another case made for it.
Oh, and just in case you were getting optimistic about the potential outcome from all the chaos in the Middle East, this might cure that.
7 thoughts on “The Libyan No-Fly Zone”
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Another case made for it.
Oh, and just in case you were getting optimistic about the potential outcome from all the chaos in the Middle East, this might cure that.
Comments are closed.
Wait a minute…the anti-American sentiment in the Middle East is likely to *grow*? How can that be? Is Bush back in power?
I kinda wish Benny, Morris would learn how, and when, to properly use, a comma in his run-on, sentences.
Personally I’m betting on something closer to status quo. At the end of the day, what has really changed? The eceonomic situation for that region hasn’t changed. There’s been no earth-shattering discovery of new resources or anything that would offer people new opportunities. The religious influence hasn’t changed – believers still believe, zealots are still zealots and unbelievers are still unbelievers.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
With regards to the US, the best outcome would be for this country to finally wake up and realize that we need to get damn serious about becoming truly energy independent. Unfortunately, the leftists in charge in Washington will do everything to stand in the way while screaming their green-energy clap trap, but I have a feeling when gas is at $5 or more they will be singing a different tune soon enough.
BTW, it seems the time for a no-fly-zone over Libya has already come and gone. The latest reports indicate Gaddafi is now down to his most loyal 5000 troops and will be leading a guerilla style campaign against any consolidation of power in Libya from here on out as he has already lost most his military. We would need to have boots on the ground to have a meaningful impact. Does getting militarily involved in another Islamic country really make sense for the US? It doesn’t to me.
At the end of the day, what has really changed?
The price of food and the price of fuel. Thanks to the injection of perhaps $4 trillion of “stimulus” into the world’s economy by Team Obama, counting the original TARP, the stimulus itself, and the massive printing of money by the Fed. One of the disadvantages of the dollar being the world’s reserve currency is that when the dollar’s owners — the United States Federal government — decide, for their own reasons, to abruptly devalue the dollar, the price of highly-traded volatile things like food and fuel jumps up. Welcome, inflation, and with it unrest among the poor who are seeing their meagre savings and income confiscated to feed the unholy maw of Big Government.
It will come here, too. You can already hear the media preparing the ground. The price of oil jumped on news from Libya and Egypt today. No it didn’t. Libya pumps 1.6 megabarrelsl/day, about what the UK pumps and half what Canada pumps, while Egypt pumps 0.6 Mbbl/day, less than India. Nor are Egypt or Libya anywhere near major oil transport routes.
But if you believe the price of gas is going up because of terrible random events in sandy hellholes far away, you won’t look too closely at what your own government is doing here at home. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.
Nor are Egypt or Libya anywhere near major oil transport routes.
Except for the Suez Canal in Egypt. Reportedly, a great deal of oil destined for Europe goes through there. Plus, with tactical aircraft, you could do a lot of mischief against tankers without having to be directly adjacent to a major shipping route.
But if you believe the price of gas is going up because of terrible random events in sandy hellholes far away, you won’t look too closely at what your own government is doing here at home. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.
You’re right that our monetary policy and insane spending are a couple of the major factors driving up the price of oil and other commodities. However, fear and uncertainty in the ME is another factor. It isn’t an either-or proposition.
It’s almost as if the current administration were populated with fervent peak-oil types, determined to imminentize the eschaton.
Except that the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and her Carrier Strike Group transited the Suez to joint the 5th Fleet. No carrier, no aircraft – no No-Fly Zone. Of course, things aren’t all that happy in Bahrain, either. The U.S. isn’t capable of controlling Libyan airspace, short of another CSG, and impossible inside 10 days.