English106

Background

This civil conflict began on February 15 after the people of Libya started a non-violent rebellion against Gadhafi's government. These revolts which started around the most eastern half of the nation have now spread to the borders of the nation's capital, Tripoli. These demonstrations are fighting for a change against the 42 year long regime in which Muammar al Gadhafi has been in control. The United States and the Libyan government have had previous disagreements which led to sanctions being held against Libya in 2003. After their government accepted responsibility for their actions and conformed to the requests of our government these sanctions were removed.

Secretary of the State, Hillary Clinton, made the statement on February 26, "we have always said that the Gadhafi government's future is a matter for the Libyan people to decide, and they have made themselves clear". The U.S. government saw no need to intervene as long as the people of Libya seemed to be comfortable with their situation. With this protesting it has been made apparent that the people of Libya are through dealing with this type of illegitimate control. It is at this time that we must decide what action(s) we will take. This is a decision which should not be discussed as a small group decision. That tactic was taken by President George W. Bush with our conflicts involving Iraq. This choice was not looked at from all angles and was not the best decision that could have been made. This should be a decision made using the rational actor model. This way each option available will be considered and the best option can be chosen.

Summary

The issue up for debate within this situation is whether or not the United States intervenes in the civil war taking place in Libya. It is known that you have called for the leader of Libya to step down from power and this has not yet happened. Similar to our issue in the past some sanctions have been put upon the Libyan government.

The U.S. has been known as the "Global Police" and there often are expectations to step in and take action in situations similar to Libya's. Yes, of course it is admirable that our government is there to step in and help nations in need but this does not always work out for our country. A great example of this is the U.S. entering into the Vietnam War. Of course we had our interests in protecting this country from becoming communist, although this was at the expense of losing many of our own troops to fight in another country's civil war. This was very noble and had great intentions behind it but the U.S. government's money could have been used on our own domestic issues. Our nations domestic problems need to come before our interests in other countries.

The Problem

The problem at hand is whether or not the United States should intervene to address the crisis taking place in Libya due to the conflict between the government and its people. There are many different approaches which the U.S. could take in an effort to interfere in the brutality taking place or the U.S. can remove themselves from the conflicts in Libya completely.

Options

• Push another government to intervene in Libya.

o If we convinced another country to put their military efforts into assisting the people of Libya it would take some stress of the Middle East off of the United States government. We would be able to help in these efforts but would not be completely liable. The problem with this is actually persuading a country into participating.