Daily Herald editorial

If you are still trying to figure out why Americans are being sent into harm’s way over Libya, you are certainly not alone. What the United States and its allied partners hope to ultimately gain by intervening in Libya’s anti-Gadhafi revolution is far from clear – perhaps even to the administration that has launched the jets that are raining bombs on pro-Gadhafi forces.

Fighting hard – no one can criticize the brave efforts of our men and women in uniform – for mysterious causes has become the hallmark of United States foreign policy, not just under the militaristic President George W. Bush, but not under his supposedly more peace-loving successor, President Barack Obama. Libya is just the latest example. It may be satisfying to beat up on a loathsome dictator like Gadhafi, but it does not really produce any positive benefits for the United States or its residents. The same might be said of our recent involvement in Iraq and ongoing battles in Afghanistan. Sure, our country is flexing its muscle. But to what end?

If it is our country’s responsibility to overthrow every cruel and disgusting regime, we ought to be engaged on at least a dozen more fronts – even if we only take on the regimes which we currently do not favor. If our goal is to secure oil supplies, then again we seem to be going about it in a counter-productive way.

While it’s wise and good to have a strong military, the uses to which that military has been put have been questionable. But it’s not too late to answer the current question, which is not, now, “What are we doing in Libya?” but rather, “How will we know when the mission is complete?” It’s a question the American people should expect their leader to answer — sooner rather than later.