Libya war reveals a weak Europe

President Obama’s war in Libya has looked far too half-hearted to justify the “humanitarian” fight against dictator Moammar Kadafi’s forces of oppression, but it has helped teach the Europeans a lesson. If Europe is to defend freedom, it had better improve its armed forces.

It’s hard to tell how important Obama considers ousting Kadafi or saving the Libyan rebels. The policy changes almost daily. But if my guess is correct, the dominant theme of the administration is: The United States already is busy and broke; we’ll help a little in Libya, but this is Europe’s project. If that message were clear, that would be an acceptable position.

But not only has Obama made “kinetic military action” in Libya a fairly high priority on occasion (Kadafi “must go” except when he “might remain”), he quickly has discovered that, if the United States is involved at all in military operations like this, it has to do all the major lifting of the initial attack, and if the dictator is to be held off, U.S. involvement will be required until the very end. That’s because the U.S. has the most sophisticated arms and the best electronic technology, and the Europeans are light years behind.

Libya should be a wake-up call to European weakness. Europe must be able to fight on its own, or the U.S. will forever be borrowing from China to do Europe’s share of liberating (as South America and Africa complain). The problem doesn’t extend only to freeing the oppressed. Europe should be able to defend itself, and it isn't.

Thanks to Obama’s Libya policy, we now know that without American help Europe is a paper tiger. It’s a dangerous situation. Europe's defenses must be upgraded. The U.S. cannot be the world’s lone ranger.

Frank Warner

Comments

[Neo]

The Germans have now permanently taken the title for contemplating their place in the world. Sort of like every adolescent.

[Frank Warner]

Yeah, it's interesting how those sins of commission have been leveraged into more than six decades of excuses for sins of omission.

You can't take the sidelines when whole nations are enslaved and tortured. Evil triumphs easily when good men do nothing.