Saturday, July 16, 2011

USA! USA!

Seal of the United States Department of State.Image via Wikipedia
Yesterday, the Secretary of State announced that the US government has decided to recognize the rebel council of Libya as the official government body of that country. This will, in theory, lead to that body being able to get access to some of the funds of the Libyan government assets that have been frozen in foreign banks. I can't tell you how thrilled I am that our government is finally taking steps to recognize the legally elected representatives of the Libyan people...(oh, what's that you say, they haven't been elected by anybody). I'm sure that's just an oversight. At least when they get the money they will be able to provide the people of Libya with the resources I'm sure they so desperately need... (oh, what's that you say, they only want the money so that they can buy weapons to continue their civil war). Well at least the US government is setting a fine example for the Libyan people of supporting freedom movements all over the region... (oh, what's that you say, the US government has seen fit to ignore similar uprisings in neighboring countries like Syria where thousands have already been killed or imprisoned). Well at least the unfreezing of the assets can be viewed as humanitarian aid because it's not like we're at war...(oh, what's that you say, our drones sometimes fire rockets at targets). But since there has been no formal declaration of war and our President says that they have no real ability to harm our personnel that it doesn't qualify as war...(oh, what's that you say, just ask the family members of those that have been killed or injured by our rockets if they think we're at war). 

Well, in conclusion, I'd just like to say that this move by the US to recognize the Libyan rebels is a wonderful example of how we seek to promote and strengthen democracy around the world. I couldn't be prouder (oh, and by proud I mean absolutely disgusted).
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4 comments:

Mike said...

As a friend pointed out - if a foreign power were committing drone attacks on U.S. territory, the White House would probably have a different position as to whether the attacks constituted "hostilities."

Gaddafi's an A-hole, but his opposition doesn't seem to have many democrats - it is a murky situation. But for the White House to paint the rebel council as democrats is disingenuous, to say the least.

Mycue23 said...

Disingenuous is exactly the world that describes everything that has been done with regards to Libya. The justification for any action in Libya is flimsy at best and when combined with the lack of action in Yemin and Syria it smacks of hypocrisy most foul.

Oso said...

yep, there seem to be several sides and I believe none of them voice real concern for the Libyan people. Europe was never happy with one of their bigger oil suppliers adopting a pan-African identity.

Unknown said...

Ditto Oso. This dove tailed the above exploitation piece so well. I like your ironies Mycue.