Support democratic movements without military interventions

By Harold Nelson

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It is unfortunate that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have decided to “double down” on their direct military involvement in large parts of the Muslim world.

I am referring to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and now Moammar Gadhafi's Libya - Muslim states under direct U.S. military occupation or subject to bombs and missiles raining down from the skies from U.S. drones or war planes.

These military interventions stand in clear contrast to what happened in Tunisia and Egypt where mass demonstrations and strikes carried out by the Tunisians and Egyptians themselves in a largely peaceful manner toppled two notorious dictators who had been friendly to the United States.

The Libyan “no fly zone” set up by the United States, France, Italy and several other Western countries with the authorization of the United Nations Security Council and the Arab League at least demonstrates the Obama administration's appearance of engaging in “collective security” rather than “going it alone” and “taking the lead” as some Republicans urged the administration to do. However, the collective security provisions of the United Nations Charter are meant to ward off aggressive attacks by one state against another, not to provide cover for military interventions against a sovereign state by coalitions of the willing in the name of humanitarian concern.

Another contrast with our supposed humanitarian intervention in Libya is our simultaneous ignoring of the entry of troops from our ally and oil buddy Saudi Arabia into Bahrain to help the Emir (another U.S. ally) of Bahrain brutally suppress his demonstrating Shiite majority, who have been demanding democracy and constitutional government in Bahrain in bird's-eye view of the U.S. 5th Fleet.

Besides our selective humanitarian intervention and democratic interventions in the Muslim world, the air attack on Libya by the Obama administration violates the U.S. Constitution, which clearly states that only Congress can declare war. In this case, Congress was not even consulted. And the same goes for the American people as a whole. In addition, our attack on Gadhafi is again being financed with borrowed money.

We should support the democratic movements in Tunisia and Egypt, which have already partially succeeded without our military intervention, and the ongoing democratic struggles in Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, but with true humanitarian assistance (e.g., food aid and aid for refugees) while refraining from yet more military meddling in the area.

Harold Nelson of Vinton is a retired history teacher.