Pressure to Invade Libya May Grow

The Independent Institute

Allied airstrikes alone might not bring down Moammar Gadhafi. High-level Libyan officials seem prepared to dig in their heels--rather than turn on their leader--perhaps comforted by a well-founded belief that their military could take shelter in the nation's urban areas, where large civilian casualties by coalition bombs would conflict with the rationale behind the United Nations resolution authorizing a no-fly zone.

An unsuccessful no-fly zone, coupled with ineffective economic sanctions and unaided by boots on the ground, could mean that Gadhafi would stay in power for years to come--just as Saddam Hussein survived similar challenges for more than a decade after the first Gulf War. That prospect could add to pressure for a coalition ground invasion of Libya staffed partly by U.S. troops. This is one reason why President Obama would have been wise to resist calls from U.S. foreign-policy elites, and their backers, to intervene in Libya, according to Ivan Eland, director of the Independent Institute's Center on Peace & Liberty.

"Obama, analytical and seemingly a reluctant warrior by nature, has utterly capitulated to such interests," Eland writes in his latest op-ed. "This outcome gives little hope that future presidents will be able to reverse the tide, run a more restrained and sensible foreign policy, and lead the world by example instead of extreme measures."

In a separate op-ed, Independent Institute Senior Fellow Charles V. Pena also argues against U.S. intervention in Libya. Although Gadhafi is bad for Libyans, "he doesn't pose a threat to the United States--which should be the one and only criterion for using U.S. military force," Pena writes. "America would be wise to remember the so-called Pottery Barn rule that former Secretary of State (and before that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Colin Powell warned about prior to invading Iraq: 'You break it, you own it.'"

"Buy Two Wars, Get Another for Half Price," by Ivan Eland (3/23/11)

"The Libya Folly," by Charles V. Pena (3/28/11)