Again, I've been bad

Once more I've been a bad blogger, reneging on the promise I made to myself and anyone else who does keep reading this, that I would be blogging regularly again. So much going on, so many things that I want to talk about, but unable to to figure out where to start, I've paralyzed myself again. I'm awful, and I know it. So much has made me angry, and riled so much emotion, and that is a position that I hate writing from. What it adds in passion, it takes away from the logic and reason of the argument. And while sometimes the raw passion is a good thing, with most of the things I enjoy writing about, it is a downside.

But, where should I start? Most pressing in the news at the moment is Libya. So why not start there? If I could pick one place in the world to be right now, this would be it.

Revolution has finally caught up with Gadhafi. He was the bogey man for a while when I was a child. The man responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. The first world leader that I can remember being talked about as funding world wide terrorism. Of course this was at the time when we were supporting Saddam in Iraq. lol But now the people have risen up in a long overdue rebellion. Rebellion against a corrupt regime is always a good thing. Even I didn't dare imagine that what started in Tunisia and Egypt would move to the country that is sandwiched between them.

But what is the point of rebellion? It is to topple the unjust and replace it with something better for the people. Not necessarily something better for the world. Due to the impact that the rebellion is having on oil prices, the temptation is there for intervention from the outside. There are calls for UN and US air strikes, mobilization of ground forces, and the whole 9 yards. Iraq has shown that doesn't work. Is Gadhafi as bad as Saddam? Yup. Has he treated his people with the same kind of disdain? Yup. The difference is that in Libya the people have risen and are willing to go as far as it takes to topple a corrupt leader.

A light hand is needed in dealing with situations like this. Should the world abandon the rebels to whatever the army may do to them? No way. but support should be subtle, under the table. Not overt shows of force and occupation. Self determination has been the correct policy of international relations since the collapse of the British Empire. Imperialism has no place in the modern world. Support for just revolution should be offered without condition, without expectation of pay back, but for the simple fact that it is the right thing to do.

A heavy handed military response would feed the anti Western sentiment in the Islamic world. It would fuel the fires of radicals that have been taking arms and preaching jihad for years. But an Islamic country that rises up against a cruel dictator, that chooses a western style democracy, the way of life that is raved against, is better than any publicity or propaganda that we can throw out about ourselves.

Alright, that's enough of a rant for now. Agree? Disagree? Love it? Hate it? Leave a comment and let me know.