When evils are most free

Patrick Clark
Columnist

The idea of military intervention by the United States for economic and geopolitical purposes, under the guise of humanitarianism, is nothing new.

The debacle in Iraq turned seven last week, though the former poster child for the uprooting of national sovereignty by a Western coalition now has been replaced by the attack on Libya. The idea that the United Nations should be the judge of when the legitimate government of an independent nation ought to change or be removed strikes again. This is followed closely by the theory that the U.S. ought to bear the grunt work of military intervention, even if the nation in question has not shown any aggression towards the U.S. or attacked her territory.

This violent attempt at balancing world power can be illustrated through a fictional scenario. Say that the stability and domestic tranquility that the people of the U.S. take for granted was suddenly upset in a wave of violence. This hypothetical unrest would begin as a large protest movement against an unpopular administration, perhaps mirroring the recent union-led protests in Wisconsin, though on a much greater level. It becomes a war waged on an American front with guerrillas by night and armies by day.

Seeing an opportunity to gain an advantage on the market for American natural resources, several major world powers declare a no-fly zone over major cities and strategic areas under the blue-and-white banner of “international security.” A vast coalition of European manpower, Chinese industry and Middle Eastern petrochemicals. What was once a domestic issue within the borders of a sovereign nation has become an international incident complete with a multinational death toll.

So how is this hypothetical situation any different from the real life American-led attack of last week? Libya, an independent and sovereign nation experiences civil unrest and strife, nations with vested economic interests strong-arm their way into a regional conflict, and the U.S. leads the charge into war.

Had this sort of uprising occurred in Wisconsin, California or in the streets of DC, then the equation would be the same, though with a different world power pulling the trigger.

For it seems that the U.S., regardless of the administration in power, cannot help but become involved in whatever foreign debacle that pops up in every backward Islamist junta or far-off military dictatorship. Now the Libyans can stand among those who have felt the backhand of the American military industrial complex and warmongering administration occupying the White House.

Three simultaneous wars in the first decade of the 21st century, two of the foreign opponents posing no immediate threat to the U.S., yet still they are attacked. One can only wonder as to how the federal government can deny sovereignty to Tripoli in regards to its own people, but shudder at the thought of foreign warships on the Potomac and foreign missiles in its skies were it to fall into such a sorry turn of events.