The triumphalism after Qadaffi’s fall last year was particularly distasteful for a few reasons. Coming from the same voices on the Left who had attacked Bush’s war, like the Center for American Progress and Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos, it was hypocritical and cynical. It was also amazingly used to excuse the blatant illegality of Obama’s intervention in Libya.
Finally, the triumphalism was offputting because Iraq and Afghanistan should have taught us a lesson about declaring a war “won” once we topple its evil regime.
According to one expert, there’s reason to worry about Libya.
“Libya teeters dangerously on the brink,” writes Frederic Wehrey of the Rand Corporation in the New York Times.
The Libyan government sits on the sidelines avoiding conflicts with militias it cannot control. Recent attempts to subdue Qaddafi holdouts in the town of Bani Walid ended in humiliation; government forces were outgunned and outfought. Their weakness results from the lack of a crucial institution for state building: a national army.
Government officials recently announced plans to disarm the militias and integrate former rebels into the army. But there is no army structure to absorb these young fighters — and increase public confidence in the government’s ability to otherwise disarm them. While NATO countries and allies like Jordan and Qatar have started to train and equip the security forces, there is more that outsiders can do to help.
And amid this, John McCain and Lindsey Graham are agitating for U.S. intervention in Syria.
