And life goes on...

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post but it hardly matters since the world situation in general have been nothing new. However, there are a few things that have crossed my mind and provoking comment.

• The situation in Libya has been a real mess compared to the revolts in the other middle-east and Africa states. The UN agreed to provide air cover for the rebels and it has only been partially effective and I doubt the rebels will prevail. The interesting part will be to see how Qaddafi deals with all of the countries who voted to remove him from power.
• I don't understand why the Presidents and leaders that are being asked to give up power have not done so voluntarily? All of the leaders in question have been in power for 20 years or more. Why don't they just grant themselves a generous retirement package and leave all the turmoil to someone else? 
• You could of heard a pin drop when the UN, Arab League, and French agreed to support a no-fly zone in Libya and the US pretty much stayed quite in the background.  After the UN resolution was passed the countries who voted fro it realized they did not have the means to enforce the no-fly zone. Any attempt they tried to make without the US would become a bloody mess. Without the US Qaddafi's air-defense system would have been much harder to neutralize. Most of the participating countries only had fighters that are not tremendously effective on ground targets. The US provided A-10's and gun ships that are specifically built to attack ground targets. The US also supplied the air traffic AWACS needed to run an air war. The other countries could have eventually succeeded but they would have taken a lot more damage then they have.
• The Libyan mess has also shown the sheer idiocy of the people who criticize US actions around the world. They rage about Qaddafi's brutality but seemed perfectly willing to accuse Saddam Hussein's brutality or the Taliban's enlightened rule. The same people clamoring for the US to stop becoming involved in other countries affairs are castigating it now for not getting involved more in places like Bahrain and Yemen. I wish they could make up their mind or shut up.