Editor's Note: Dr. James M. Lindsay is a Senior Vice President at the Council on Foreign Relations and co-author of "America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy." Visit his blog here and follow him on Twitter.
By James M. Lindsay - Special to CNN
Libyans have taken to the streets to celebrate the impending end of Moammar Gadhafi’s forty-two year rule. These celebrations are as understandable as they are premature. The tyrant is leaving, but who or what replaces him remains to be decided.
Washington knows what it wants next in Libya: a stable, preferably democratic government that exercises effective control over all its territory. A politically and economically successful Libya could be a model for the rest of the Arab world.
But success in Libya is not guaranteed. The Libyan rebels agreed that Gadhafi had to go. They don’t necessarily agree on who or what should replace him.
Gadhafi undermined every institution that might threaten his rule, which means that the rebels will be building Libya’s new political system from scratch. Tribal, regional and class divisions could easily derail these efforts.
The nightmare outcome is a Libya that collapses into anarchy. It would become a breeding ground for criminals and terrorists. Al Qaeda and its affiliates gravitate to countries that have weak, ineffective governments.
The next month will go a long way toward determining whether Libya succeeds or fails. Making sure that food and other basic necessities reach Libyans in need will be critical to establishing the credibility of the rebels’ Transitional National Council (TNC).
Preventing the breakdown of law and order will be equally important. The lawlessness that gripped Baghdad in the weeks immediately following Saddam Hussein’s ouster helped set the stage for the insurgency that followed. If Tripoli can avoid a similar fate, Libya stands a fighting chance of making the most of its new-found freedom.
Continued violence in Libya could come from several sources. Gadhafi loyalists might continue fighting. Rival rebel militias might square off against each other. Revenge killings could spur a cycle of escalating violence.
So what are the White House’s next steps? The White House has pledged humanitarian assistance. Direct U.S. military intervention, however, is off the table. Neither the administration nor the American people has much interest in putting American boots on the ground in yet another country.
What might the administration do instead to keep violence in Libya in check? There are two basic choices:
1. Leave it to the Libyans. NATO bombing was essential to breaking Gadhafi’s hold on power, but it was the Libyan people who fought and risked their lives on the ground. The United States and NATO could continue to advise and support the TNC on political reconciliation and economic reconstruction, but otherwise stay out of the way.
2. Champion an International Peacekeeping Force for Libya. Such a force could range from a few hundred paramilitary police officers to several thousand military troops. The police and.or troops could come from Europe or elsewhere in the Middle East. Their goal would be to keep the peace in Tripoli and other pro-Gadhafi strongholds and oversee a general disarmament. Such a force might stay only a few months or perhaps longer depending on the conditions.
President Obama said nothing in his address today about the role that peacekeepers might play in Libya. So for it looks for now that he prefers leaving matters in the hands of the Libyans.
But that calculation could change quickly if the TNC fails to establish control. The question then will be whether the peacekeepers that do go in get there in time to save Libya from a nightmare outcome.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of James M. Lindsay.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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What's going to replace the Qadaffy regime is another pro-Western dictatorship under the guise of a democracy. Both the C.I.A. and the British MI-6 are quite good at setting up phoney elections like they did in South Vietnam during the Vietnam war during the 1960's. Now the NATO countries will get their grimy hands on Libya's oil and bleed that country white!
Quite true, Onesmallvoice. Another Middle Eastern country mugged by NATO for it's oil and it'll go on and on!
You people spreading your lies and retarded cynicism need to shut the hell up. The only thing you're doing is adding to the potential of a failed state. If that happens innocent blood is on your hands. I hope you can live with that.
Libya is not in the middle-east, but you do sound like you know what you're talking about. I guess that's all that matters for CNN.
Neoritter: Right, all sorts of your ridiculous ideas would work if only people stopped being so "cynical." Libtards attacking others for not being deluded: nothing new.
Hey Matt, do you use any oil or gasoline based products? That's what I thought, another "holier than thou" hypocrite.
Facts: Gadhafi, rules Libya for 42 years. Propelled country to the top of the human development index list. Created infrastructure. 2000 victims of his regime though.
*********************
Now Obama. Decided to take over Libya 6 months ago. Turned the most prosper country of the region into the smoking ruins. Infrastructure destroyed. 10 000 victims since March 2011.
********************
Link: You forgot to mention in your so-called "facts" that Gadaffi was responsible for at the very least a) the Berlin disco bombing that killed two American servicemen, and b) the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed over 290 people in the air and on the ground; presided over a nation that openly supported (armed and funded) terrorist organizations and was listed by the US as a terrorist nation unttil it suited him to cozy up with the US to save his own skin when he saw the writing on the wall so he divested himself of his nuclear developments; was a rogue Islamist leader who brutalized his own people, and when his own countrymen in Benghazi rebelled, promised to go door to door and kill them all.
And this is the kind of person you support and admire instead of your own elected President?
Says more about your own prejudices than it does about Obama, bro.
If Somalia had some natural resources the U.S. could exploit there would be a fast food joint every 100 yards.
where was the oil going before?
It's all about SECURITY, my man. Doesn't matter if they will sell it to you anyway: when you're willing to kill someone over a commodity, you're too far gone to understand reality in the first place. Read Erickson... he explains it all.
France. Italy and the rest of Europe mainly...the US only imported about 1% of it's oil from Libya. We don't need their oil...most of ours come from the US and Canada.
One thing is clear. Chinese have lost this Libyan war.
Uh, newsflash... we already had "our grimy hands on Libya's oil". We bought it from them every day. You've been reading too many conspiracy theory websites and not enough economics. The puppet governments are such a cold war thing that don't work and we don't do anymore.
You're one of those that just can't get past the Vietnam War even though it is totally not relevant anymore. Heck, even the Vietnamese are past it and it was their country. Get a clue.
ah, someone with sense, finally.
We just don't "do" puppet governments? Where have you been the last decade? I guess that's passe now or your ignorance just revamped itself.
Also; I'm sure Vietnam still remembers the war; they're still afflicted by Agent Orange decades later. I'm sure a lot of the veterans do too; some of whom also are afflicted years later by cancer from exposure to toxins we sprayed around without thinking.
Moron. Why don't you go back to pretending you understand the universe through 'economics'.
Schmedly talks about how conspiracy theorist nuts can only ever point to Vietnam... And as a rebuttal? EdwardBananna tells him what a fool he is and only points to Vietnam to back himself up.
Classic!
Only Vietnam? Dude... I won't even mention Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq. South America is full of US puppet states. Ignorant sheep =\
Finally someone who understands. The Cold War was when we did that in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Iraq isn't a puppet government: they were elected by the Iraqi people, and the US already has some problems with how they run things, and yet aren't forcing them to conform. Afghanistan is corrupt, and the US recognizes that, but won't remove Karzai despite the obviously fraudulent elections as that would be interfering too much. We aren't assassinating leaders like we did in the Cold War, and neither are we going to do it here in Libya
*** The puppet governments are such a cold war thing ***
Completely false ! It used to be this way for centuries and it is going to be this way for a while. Read some history books.
Only Veitnam; eh, haven't you read 'the economic hit man' by John Perkins.
Shut up Moron. let the situation play out first...but you know everything, huh? Idiot
You people DO realize that Libya has relatively little oil, right? That's it's one of the smallest OPEC producers, right? That almost all of it's oil goes directly to Italy, and nowhere else, right?
Whoops, my bad. Forgot about the ignorance of Democrats. You just didn't know before you opened your mouths and collectively began wringing your hands and shouting "IT'S ABOUT THE OIL!!!!!"
What a contribution.
Another deaf, blind and dumb fool who's caught in divisions.
Jim,
Maybe if you would stop sniffing up all of the methane from your fellow neo-cons rear ends the energy problems of the world would be solved!!
and jim after that oil from libya goes to italy, how much of it goes to the u.s. navy, and how much of the fuel powers naval combat aircraft ?
Uh. actually you worthless imbecile, it is the 10th-largest oil producer in the world. Typical moron Republican.
Michelle Bachmann's plan for $2 gasoline.
funny joke
Most of the oil in Lybia was already flowing freely to the US and other western nations. If the US really wanted to keep the free flow of oil they should have backed Gadhafi, not the rebels. With the collapse of any form of government it will take years to turn the oil back on. Try to think before mindlessly posting.
Brian, nice to hear a sane response that is not full of hate.
Thanks
why re ya lying to yourself .. we re no longer kids anymore .. we know what goes around in the world now .. that is why Allah has curse U.S with tornado,tsunami,earthquake etc .. there re more to come in due time .. Americans ll never be like Libya,Syria,Afghanistan,Iraq and other countries, they have sent and brought sorrow,hard time,difficulties and problems to but ll not have peace and ll suffer than those countries for the rest of they life ....
An earthquake has hit United States' east coast, and was felt as far away as Canada, shaking buildings, delaying flights, and sending thousands of frightened workers into the streets.There have been no reports of any major damage or injuries from the earthquake, which measured 5.9 on the Richter scale. The US Geological Survey said the epi-centre of the quake was in Mineral, Virginia, at a very shallow depth of 1km.http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/08/201182319543486546.html
I wish it kills 10000000000000000000000000000 people in America but i think this is a fair warning from Allah to Americans the next time it ll come ......it think ll be come with tornado,volcano,tsunami etc at the same time and ll wash all those bad people in America away for the world to have peace...
Actually the oil should be flowing in a few weeks as no really major damage was done in the recent conflict. It won't take years more like a year, their production of about 1.5 million barrels a day was not that high compared to other oil producers. Very high priority will be given to get the flow going again for obvious reasons. Just read this in an article the other day, despite very recent reports. The effectiveness of the NTC will of course play a vital role, lets hope they can get their act together quickly, they got a big job ahead of them. And please folks forget about the recent FEAR FACTOR talk about Sharia Law and Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda all that other FEAR stuff the right-wingers have been blabbing about (please grow some CAJONES)... most of the Libyans want some kind of democracy and the next year should point to what direction that country is going ... ditto Egypt and Tunisia.
Someone said that history does not repeat its self, but it sure dose rhyme. Vietnam was then, this is now, but often it does rhyme. When the US thinks it can do whatever it wants and justify it in the name of freedom, things go very bad. Think Iraq. But I doubt anyone is ready for another Vietnam rhyme. One more lesion learned. The hard way. Again. But while the world wants Libya to be ready to sell oil tomorrow, I think everyone knows that if they push their way, again, it will go as bad as it always dose. Libya needs to do this on their own and for Libya, and then it will all just work out. Sometime. Until then all we can do is offer help when they ask for it.
well, they asked for the help this time, requesting the aid from NATO. Hopefully the NTC can handle things now, and we can pull out and leave the glory and future to them.
Or it will backfire in twenty years or so like it always does when we encourage/forcibly change powers in other countries. One more country for the Islamic Brotherhood. One more nation armed against the west.
Not a bad grip on history One...but you forgot Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Didn't work too well there did it?
"Bleed it white" ? So you're a racist that everything is about color? The day you NEVER use ANY gasoline OR oil product again you can say you are not a hypocrite. But until then you are a nasty hypocrite.
When it said bleed it white, I thought he was referring to what happens to people when all their blood is drained out, I didn't take the statement as a racial reference. But hey, what do I know?
Well, I sure hope we get some of that OIL – I just bought a new SUV, LOL
Hey idiot, it's not like we are stealing their oil. We are paying for it. That is what they want us to do. That is how they make money. Its a commodity. Would it sound less evil if it was oranges? If they had a lot of oranges would you be saying the U.S. was trying to get their greedy hands on all the oranges??
don't ya know they re going to pay for any missiles use in this war ... do ya think it is for free nothing is free for the .U.s ,Uk etc they know what they ll achieve in any action or movement they take..Allah send them those natural missiles like the earthquake,tornado ,tsunami etc.. those missiles kills faster than what they re using and i know and believe in due time they ll have and experience it and it ll be a mystery to them more 11 sep and others.....
You mean like we did in the Cold War...a long time ago...So far there is no evidence that we will manipulate the NTC whatsoever. The Libyans are free now, and hopefully will defend their new found freedom from foreigners with the persistance with which they gained it
Please, the most likely outcome is a fundamentalist Islamic state.
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Totally agree..............the "west" always has ways of getting what they want, be it via the CIA or MI-6. The word "collaboration" seems to me to be absent from their dictionaries. SVN was an excellent example. Thanks!
everything is true in what your saying,the real enemy is the us and the west,they are disguise as savior but their real intentions is the oil,like what they did to iraq,and they want to conquer iran,but they cannot,i pity the people of libya,they will be under the puppet of us and nato they will decide the future of that country not the libyan's.AND THE REASON WHY THE PRICE OF OIL IS RISING,THEY WANT TO ESTABLISH FULL CONTROL OF OILS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND DICTATE WORLD PRICE,BBC,CNN,AL JAZEERA, THEY ARE ALL UNDER THE SAME BANNER THEY WANT TO IMPOSE THE ONE WORLD GOVERMENT
Libia was a success story before illegal intervention came along by means of a UN resolution to allow the West to intervene for the safety of Libyans with no fly zones! Not a word was said when Amerika first stsrtaed to bomb everything in site as if an invasion was forthcoming! It was relentless and many souls died from it who had peace before they came! God damned them and now Godaffi is making ^plans and will remain in exhile, but he was a man with a tent ready to move at a moment's notice and can live anywhere because Africa is his home and Africa will defend his integruty from the likes of BBC and CNN Jewish run agencies bent on supporting the military role in taking over the Mideast for Israel! We'll see how far you get using deceit to get your wauy in Libya! God is watching you! You won't get by Him! disgusted eric
Well the idea of fading away into the population and of insurgency is to deny stability, create chaos, create a vacuum, if you deny the enemy the ability to create stability, maintain security. Then you have a chance of driving the enemy out of areas, and you expand those areas, filling the vacuum. If done right Tripoli could once again become a strong hold without a rebel presence. The longer Libya stays in the current condition, after the war the destruction of infrastructure the easier it is for al-Qaida to gain support, keeping oil exports down to 2 to 5% of capacity is key to breaking the TNC. In Libya if you do that then the rebels will start to eat themselves from the inside out, and you can deny any transition, they are far weaker than a unified military. That is what al-Qaida would try to do and so would Qaddafi loyalists. So you cannot allow it to be a safe haven for terror, so it means sand on the boots, then al-Quds come, Iran send money, arms, al-Qaida comes from around the world, Hizbullah comes. So the first thing to do was get Qaddafi loyalist to give up their arms and surrender, then after that is done disarm the al-Qaida linked militants, while adopting a power sharing agreement to prevent sectarian conflict between tribes. Then you will get transition and stability and not need sand on the boots. The insurgency needs to be broken up into its various parts, Qaddafi loyalists, al-Qaida and prevent sectarian conflict between tribes. Isolate and counter each part and you win.
I think that you're wrong Matt, unfortunately. I fear that the NATO occupation of Libya will be far too strong for any insurgency to succeed there. As for Al Qaeda, we now have little to fear. In fact, Al Qaeda has never been all that powerful anyway as even 9/11 had to be in part, an inside job but the right-wing media will never admit that, of course!!!
Indeed, victory celebrations are premature! Interesting times lie ahead of us. I can imagine the bookmakers in England are busy taking on bets from the public, whether there would be stability in Libya or not.
typical american story, never miss a chance to fear monger. just because your society doesnt do anything out of fear doesnt meant the rest of the world cant live
I'm proud to be an American, who is unafraid to speak his mind for fear of being jailed or killed for doing so. There are very few places in the world where that is true. And for the places that is not true, we should not lift one finger, or spend one dime, or even one second of our time helping them.
It happens here too LVInsane...its just you have no opinions contrary to the establishment, and if you did, not enough sway to challenge them. Scapegoats are always needed.
Name some opinions of yours contrary to the establishment that are going to get you imprisoned... Please, I'd really like to know.
Try photographing an American cop when he's arresting somebody....boom you get cuffed and tossed in the car too.
Smell the freedom!
well, america sounds like a real jerk then, keeping all the freedom to itself
It's going to be predictable. Rebels storm capital. Loot and burn everything. Some guy with a borrowed military uniform and a big AK47 will go on TV and say he is the "interim temporary leader of the new people's revolutionary movement". They will proceed to gut the treasury and bug off with billions. Gunfire will continue every night – and by this time next year, there will have been at least 3 "interim leaders"...as the previous two will have been shot or blown up.
sigh.
You forgot about them putting sharia law in place so that people can be beheaded, stoned, and honor-killed.
Washington knows what it wants in a government in Libya, what a joke we don't even know what we want here, tea party, liberal left, conservative right, isolation, police the world,etc.
They don't really care what kind of government takes over...as long as it is one that will send us cheap oil, and follow our foreign policy in the Middle East.
If we wanted cheap oil why wouldn't we just drill offshore for our own, or drill in Alaska, or get more from Canada, you get my point.
Because it costs less to import the finished product from elsewhere – rather than having to find the oil, building derricks, staffing the derrick, actually drilling for the oil, and then building a pipeline to the oilfields.
because ya Americans re cowards,greedy and selfish as ya people re keeping your oil for future use when the world is short or having problems with oil that is when ya guys ll go and drill your oil to blind the world pretending to be the good country on earth.. we re tired of your lies and nuffin on this earth can change who ya re and what ya people re capable of doing .... your time ll come as when ya trow a ball to a wall it bounce back to ya .. and i know for sure,cant wait and hope to see that day .....
You're of the mind that what's happening here isn't totally and completely planned. Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, it doesn't matter, they all beat to the drum of their masters...The all seeing eye, and his one world government.
I think this revolution was one primarily of Libyan youth dying for their country. As such I don't worry about a thing; they have the love and support of their countrymen and deserve to be successful. You know these people have a pretty cool history if one looks back – they are probably going to become a great country and center of Arab pride. Given there were lots of folks in the West supporting and rooting for them I hope we have good relations going forward. Much better outcome than Iraq if you ask me.
Arab Spring is happening because their leaders are getting older and weaker. And if you think that helping any of them has any payback for the USA, think again, because those people have no concept of self-rule. The next set of 'leaders' will be cut from the only mold they have, and it is the same mold which gave rise to their current dictators. And who will rise? The people who have organization. Who are they? Islam. Take a guess what's next.
African pride my boy, there is nothing like arab pride.
arab pride is extinct, doesnt exist again.
Libyan ll cry and regret this day .. many'll shout to the world and says why did we allow ourselves to be fooled by these trumps and corrupts people in the world .... The'll never be peace in Libya and the Libyan'll miss him as Ghanaian miss Dr. Kwame Nkrumah .. The rate that is a state that ... Ya ll never see the use and importance of a person's closer to ya till he or she is gone ..... by then it'll be to late ..
wasn't the same thing said of Iraq? And what do we have?
"Washington knows what it wants next in Libya: a stable, preferably democratic government that exercises effective control over all its territory. A politically and economically successful Libya could be a model for the rest of the Arab world."
And THIS is a stupid, unrealistic and expensive idea. America's flaw is thinking that we can, or should, save others from themselves.
Fk Libya and its people
Spoken like a true Tea Partier like Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnell or Michele Bachmann as that's the way the three of them feel about Muslims, but then again, so does Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton!!!
Interesting screen name. Maybe change it to hypocrite?
Agreed, don't we have better things to worry about? How can we afford all the sorties and tomahawks? We are borrowing money to fight a war for these idiots.
Get ready for the IEDs, murder of christians, etc.
Over 85 percent of Libya's crude exports go to Europe, while around 13 percent goes east of the Suez Canal to Asia. Around 32 percent of Libyan oil goes to Italy, 14 percent to Germany, 10 percent to China and France and 2% percent to the United States.
For more on this read groundbreaking novel -- king of Bat'ha
We are now fretting and strutting our hour upon the stage. Every penny will be paid.
lybia is doomed. it will become a terrorist haven. why the f did nato get involved in someone elses country. we are going to paying for this for decades. as we try to keep it from becoming a terrorist haven.
It amazes me how everyone is clamoring for Ghaddafi to go, however, be careful what you wish for. Anarchy or Islamic extremists will probably take over. Funny how Obama tells these leaders they "must go." How about if we march on Washington - will he go? Somehow I doubt it.
Shut up Bejing spy ! You are uncovered !
Only a spy from Bejing doesn't understand the democratic system. It's neither anarchy, no totalitarism. It's elected representative government. Not perfect, but the best thing humanity invented yet.
Sometime I wonder if Bejing is secretely funding the Tea Party.
What the heck are you raving about? What does Beijing have to do with this? Sheesh.
Clearly, you don't understand the "democratic" system either. "Democracy" is nothing more than mob rule where 51% can do whatever they want to the other 49%. We are a "Republic" which is rule by law with checks and balances. Go back to school...
Thankfully the founding fathers chose a republican form of government rather than democratic. Take some time to look it up fool.
Are the rebels elected government representative? If not whyis the "democratic" west supporting them?
If enough of us do with guns, he'll go real fast. To his helicoper pad where he will comfortably take off an order bombing of DC to wipe out all of the dissidants at once. Don't worry, all of Congress and other important officials would already have been moved though. Then the controlled media would be given information that it was a terrorist attack and or that one of the rebels had a bomb that went off prematurely.
Lucy, your scepticism is well justified!
Why don't we just mind our own business in the future? Pull out of the wars, stop foreign aid and take care of ourselves first. When we get our house back in order, then we can help others.
Because our nation and its leaders abhor common sense.
No, stop the aid PERMANENTLY! Don't go back to p0licing the world once we "get our house back in order". WE are not supposed to be an Emp!re!
We are not supposed to be a "dem0cracy", we are NOT supposed to be c!t!zens, We are supposed to be s0vere!gn !ndividuals of a republ!c.
Using odd punctuation because when certain words are used, your message is oddly not posted...
It's called hypocrisy.
Why don't we pull out of all wars? Because America can not sustain itself. Global hegemony economically and militarily is the only way for America to sustain it's way of life. Plain and simple. If America pulls out of all wars and stops all aid to other countries, it will have to rely much more on itself and at this point, America is not a producing nation and has relatively low resources – if you are prepared as a nation to live a far far more modest way of life, then it might be possible, but as we all know, this will never happen. Most of the wealth in america is created offshore these days. To get the rest of the globe to cooperate with this arrangement, wars must be fought, territories taken, and palms greased.
A good soldier dreams about becoming a general. A good country seek for an opportunity to become an empire. Just because they can. And you, you can't go against the nature.... Good try though.
All of you people need to shut the hell up! Why not give the people of Libya a chance to succeed. All if you people are so negative and aren't even giving them a chance. Instead of the negativity why don't you just shut up and see what happens. The world will find out soon enough what type of government they will have.
Because the writing is on the wall. Hope you get the reference.
Brathead, sorry to disppoint you, but NATO fignt wars for their political/economical interests, not for "giving some people a chance". They planned to remove Gadhafi long ago, they prepared, they did it.
Because the people were not given a chance. The rebels are not democratic elected representatives. They are puppet supported by US,UK, France and NATO for their own benefits. It has nothing to do for the benefit of Libyans!! Why are American so guillible? Their leaders can lie to them ( WMD in Iraq) and they beleive, Vietnam, etc. Ifg the Americans public are a result of democracy , who wants it?
This is really embarrassing for Obama, he tried to weasle out of this war and leave it to the British and French. Thought he'd be Gaddafi's buddy when the rebels lost – OOPS!
Do try to get over yourself. Why do you and your ilk always attack Obama? Do yo think it's cool? If he helps Libya you attack him for doing so. When the rebels win you attack him for not doing enough. I can't understand why you also dislike Mitt. He changes his mind almost as much as you do. Try this, re-read your posts everyday and then try to make some sense of the mess. Then attack yourself.
Wimps don't have the guts to re-read their posts, sorry.
Obama kills Osama Bin Laden
Obama frees the Libyan People from a tyrant
Times are tough for a rightwinger such as yourself. The only thing the GOP is doing lately is trying to deny health care for people and claiming that Paul Revere was actually a british spy.
With 2500 murdered civilians in the past 24 hours it becomes to smell Hague court for Obama and several other NATO leaders...
Yawn.
The Libyan economy is heavily dependent on the hydrocarbon industry which, according to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), accounted for over 95 percent of export earnings in 2010.
According to the Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), Libya holds around 46.4 billion barrels of oil
reserves, the largest in Africa, and close to 55 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas reserves. In
2010, total oil production (crude plus liquids) was close to 1.8 million barrels per day (bbl/d).
Sure, Libya has one of the richest oil reserves in Africa, but it's also got gold ... and lots of it.
Libya is believed to have about $8.69 billion in gold reserves, among the top 25 in the world, and most of it is understood to be held in country, a handy asset for a transitional government that is about to launch the nation's reconstruction.
Let see, rebels have just siezed the largest city in the country. The nation's military has fled or defected. Heavily armed men are driving through the streets. Thousands have been killed. There is no political leadership. Meanwhile the author is worried about the breakdown of law and order. It seems that occurred in Libya much earlier this year. Let's see if it can be restored.
Its getting tough to be a tyrant these days. People just dont appreciate all the hard work that goes into running a dictatorship. Look at you guys in the US. You have a president and a bunch of elected officials. Im not saying they dont have a hard job but come on folks.....Ive been at this for 47 years. I shoulda just retired.
Muslims can never accept defeat, so elections are out of the question.
The loser(s) will always start killing the winners, shouting Allahu Akbar.
Good luck Libya your going to need it. I do hope they get a good government going and things work out well for them but Im sure most agree its one hell of a long shot.
the french led coalition and libyan rebels show a leaderless and failing america how its done!while the disgrace obama spends his time on vacation and holding endless parties for celebrities france stepped up and did the job!!
excuse me sir?
emm what job?
did u u just say what i think u did?
You need to have your mouth washed out with soap.
Did it ever occur to any "liberators" that maybe just maybe Arab countries NEED to be governed with an Iron fist, and that democracy for them, simply doesn't work.
Very succinct. You are dead on. These people are animals that cannot handle "freedom" in the sense that we know it. They have a natural love for suicide bombing, beheading, stonings, honor-killing, and other barbaric behavior. People like this nutcase leader and Saddam were NEEDED to keep these barbaric creatures under some semblance of control.
The islamic nuts will take over this country and put sharia law in place. It's a sure thing.
Wow. The ignorance and insecurity of people in this comments section is amazing. I'm not sure why I expect our elected officials to act in a dignified manner, when a majority of people can't seem to make that happen here. I just hope this is a poor cross section of society.
I have seen the enemy, and it is you people.
So far your comment is the dumbest of all.
Did you attend grade school. Perhaps, you failed kindergarten.
I second JoJoFries. Reading the comments to news articles is an education in idiocy of our fellow Americans, as well as the hatred people hold in their hearts but wouldn't dare spout in person – only from the safety of their bedrooms or offices (while they're supposed to be working...good job doing your part to keep America productive).
The only comfort is that the many right wing nuts and slightly fewer left wing nuts and fewer-but-still-significant "trust no one" nuts on here are a vocal but tiny part of the population. They won't get anything done but masturbating through political trolling and enjoying the mini rushes of rage and righteousness that come from it.
France and Italy especially get a moderate percentage of their oil from Libya and they were the behind the NATO action in Libya. The US provided NATO support to support our allies. France, especially, wants a stable Libya because they do not want thousands of Libyan refugees flooding into France and the rest of Europe. Libya is not a strategic country for the US – Syria is.
Syria, Iran,... All these small conflicts are only a preparation for the real clush of interests – NATO vs China. This war is unavoidable. Time is surely playing on China's side and they are desperately trying to buy time. I think USA should move their a$$ to get into that conflict ASAP, since their advantage is melting away.
Okay so on what grounds would we justify a war with China. If you look around carefully, you'll realize that the US and Chine have an entwined relationship. China's manufacturing does well because American consumers purchase those items. However, if US consumers are no longer purchasing items, then China is hurt. This relationship is a factor in the reason why China buys our debt (though they're not the majority owning our debt). In order for them to succeed, the US must succeed. In short, one cannot survive without the other because their interests are reliant on the other. Get the point?
Moving on, why would the US fight a war against their largest creditor? So they don't have to payback the debt? I think the damage to our integrity would be greater than any benefit that would come out of that war. People wouldn't buy our Treasuries because they know what happens if the US is unable to pay back – they invade you. This will only strengthen the belief that the US is a bully and all those who cried wolf will have been proven correct. If our reputation around the World is perceived to be poor, we'd win no friends in doing this.
And what would victory look like? A procession into Beijing to be named victors. Would we be welcomed with open arms? Even before that, if we're having problems securing Afghanistan and Iraq, how is China, a country with a billion person population going to be easier? If you're so worried about a conflict with China, and a potential loss of advantage, maybe we should put some regulations in place in sending military technology abroad. For example, China has managed to replicate many US weapons and weapons system. One example would be the Aegis System aboard US navy ships to manage defensive and offensive operations. If we're so concerned about the rise of China as both an economic and military force, maybe we should learn to better protect out national secrets and stop trying to find an enemy to fight. War should be a measure of last resort and guided by some overarching political reasoning. Go figure fighting a war on faulty information with no long term plan has benefitted us plenty. If you see a good political reason for getting in a war with China, let me know, but as of now, there isn't a visible one. I look forward to your response and thanks for your insights.
There will be total chaos and anarchy for a long time. Of course, the USA through o'bombma is responsible for that.
The situation will only be worse than if it was allowed to play out naturally. The administration will be running around bleary eyed in amazement and wonder after the chaos begins. The USA will never know now who is friend or foe.
Soon the revolution will begin here. Then watch o'bombma run and hide. Insetad of where is Waldo it will be where is o'bombma.
Obama and especially his obscure puppetiers from the Forbes list will pick a chaotic / fundamentalist country over a socialist one any day of the week.
They need to put in place something that is similar to the G.I. Bill after WW2. Get them to school, get them building infrastructure and get them selling their oil to pay for everything.
Hey Cable Guy....
who, exactly, is 'they'? If the 'they' you are referring to are the Libyan people, I'm sure they can figure out what to do next. Afterall, 'they' aren't chimps.
Oh, and if by 'they' you meant us.....and in U.S., maybe we should, just once, try minding our own F'n business. We don't seem to be doing a very good job of that lately, anyways.
"They" is referring to the libyan people. And I'll say whatever I want to say. It's a comment section in web news article stupid, not a conference room in libya. It's called a discussion. If you don't want to be a part of it then go away.
Of course, of course, how brilliant. Let the government do it. They can do everything. You might as well let the government do the postings for you also.
Why don't you let the conspiracy websites post for you. Let me guess, you think aliens are backing the U.S. and rebels right?
Shouldn't we be doing that here instead of spending money there? With 46 million Americans on Food Stamps and 9%,unemployment with millions losing their homes; doesn't it feel ridiculous to build infratructure anywhere but here? Doesn't it make more sense to stop spending millions for missiles and fuel for other countries and take our tax money and spend it here?
I meant that is what the Libyan Government should do for their own people, not the U.S. government for them. The reason I suggested that was because that worked for us after world war 2.
Let the Libyans determine their future. The vast majority of the rebels had real jobs before, and most likely will go right back to those jobs as before. Libya doesn't have a history of ingrained professional militias like in some countries. These folks want a new country their way.
The oil will help the new government pay for things, because frankly....the other arab dictatorships in the region certainly weren't happy to see this outcome and will be hesitant to provide any help. They're too busy worrying about propping up their own power base. Dictatorships are dropping off right and left, times are tough for cult of personality types.
God is the Greatest. May Allah Bless the Revolution.
SEE THIS IS WHY THE WORLD IS THE WAY IT IS RELIGION WE DONT IT ANYMORE SAY GOODBYE TO ALL RELIGION RELIGION IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL
yes, God is good. I think he's at his best when his sends his children into a ak-47 weilding frenzy and turns them against each other in his name.......afterall, he is ALL powerful, isn't he?
just typing that sounds absurd
Continuing to blame God or guns or oil for murder is such a cop out. People kill each other. They are inherently evil.
let God out of this... people kill people due to democracy and bad influences from those who brought it ..lying to people about fighting for the right and giving them the power of other ... the really Power is from God that is why ya guys can defeat the really missiles that comes on your way like the earthquake ya people had today.. i thought ya people claim to the super power then stop those natural missiles from God.....cowards
What Allah? Raymond is a catholic name.
ya raymond, god is the greatest, and allah bless the revolution, but bring on the budweiser, and everything here in la,la, land will be fine !
NATO "occupation force" Looks too like return of the colonialisty powers. You have to let the Libyians work out themselves. Remember what a choatic mess the government of the USA was right after the revolution. If I read my
American history right it took until well after the Civil war to have what is in Washington now. But the period 1784-1812 things were still being shook out and I think that this maybe what has to happen in Libya and Egypt hopedully one day in Syria. The west has to take a deep breath and help things happen without being seen to say this is how things must be.
WHY DO WE WANT STABILIZATION IN OTHER COUNTRY'S WE R NOT STABLE OURSELVES OUR GOVERNMENT IS CA LAPSING IN AMERICA THE POLITICAL ARE SYSTEM IS CORRUPT WALL STREET IS CORRUPT WE ARE INVADING COUNTRY'S FOR OIL AND LYBIA CAN SAY GOOD BYE TO DEMOCRACY THAT IS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN NOW ITS ANOTHER IRAQ WHAT IS GOING ON HAVE LOST OUR FIN MINDS
no, but it sounds like you might have....
The laws of the new Libya will be based on Sharia Law. How comforting- Thanks Obama for helping install another Islamofacist state in the world!
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, Obama sends troops to help Qaddafi succeed in fighting off the revolutionaries. And Brian G and the rest of the puppet brigades are up in arms over how Obama has squandered their money in helping a dictator thwart a righteous and much needed revolution that would have helped create a safer, more democratic world.
Brian, you silly puppet.
Care less about Democracy in Libya and more about spending money on roads and infrastructure here instead of our 100s of millions in tax money going to Afghan drug dealers and the endless wars for oil companies.
Spare me this nattering nabob of negativism.
And a Bush crony at that. After the bloody mess of Iraq, this man has nothing useful to say.
I will bet my last dirham, we will have to go in and help secure libya from the usual terrorists and basic anarchy. our armed forces and their familys will have to make more sacrafices. our country will have to borrow more. i am beginning to understand why middle east countries have strongmen running them. it is all that works for them. do we really understand them? i don't think so.
a 27 year old built what they have now except we destroyed much. How 'bout we let them decide for once? How about we lend a hand with what we can and not be the worlds police for once? If they need us they will call.
American and European Advisors are needed in there to set up a puppet Democratic government.
Libya ll not be the same without Qaddafi .. although they re rich in oil .. they ll suffer like Ghana without Dr. Nkrumah and other countries like Iraq,Bahrain,Afghanistan,Syria etc.....
what God?? when ya define God then ya ll have the answer what is Allah...@ Link
We needed an expert to tell us that?
we (americans) had nothing to do with this spring uprising . this is the will of the people. they know there leaders they know what they want. now is our time to support there quest ! they are not dumb they know what they want ! there future will be the one they want . good luck to them. and give them the respect they want !
how can you say that the celebration is premature ???? in a long batlle started begining of the year, with so many live perish.... it is so very worth for them to celebrate !! every singe step achievement should deserve a celebration !!!
You want to make a smooth transition over to the new set of thugs in Libya?? –Keep Obama and his Snot nosed staff out of it or he and they will screw it up royalty–Maybe that's for the best anyway–
If Muslims don't respect infidels and apostates, there is no hope whoever gets power.
I have a question...A what if...
What if the newly freed countries majority population proposed to the USA that they want to be united with the US. Would our government agree to governing their land in agreement that they become US citizens and pledge allegiance to the United States of America? It seems that everything has a plus after it now days. We can become "USA+" and put the foot note below of who the "+" is since they are not in the Americas. We can add an outline of an oil rig inside a star each time an oil rich country becomes a part of the USA.
Libya is not going to stablize in the comng days.....after gadhafi, libya will go into the power war bewteen different groups of rebels...
civil war is very likely to be start from middle of the next month between rebels.
when the gadaffi suported the islamic extremist secrectly,the fbi knew.the add him on the list of enemy of the usa.there thre he be come target.now they have achived there goal.next and be sure its iran.
President Obama said nothing in his address today about the role that peacekeepers might play in Libya. So for it looks for now that he prefers leaving matters in the hands of the Libyans. HE should have done that before He killed over 3,000 civilians and dropped more than 17,000 bombs n a country of 6 million or one bomb for every 340 people.. Think if that happened in our country
People that say the US is only in Libya for its oil are stupid. If you do some reading and actually research what you are saying, you can see that less than 1% of the US's oil comes from Libya. Additionally that 1% is not directly imported. It is brought in from corporations (mostly bp).
Spencer
If the Muslims weren't in control in Somalia, the people there would not be starving to death, but you wouldn't know anything about that; would you?
Democracy is not free...costs money US dollars please...or a bit of Oil!
But don`t worry the Bankers will come for a visit for some good deals on weaponry and stuff...your credit is good!...Gadhafi doesn`t owe them any money!...but you the revolutionaries will owe them for the next 100 years!
U.S. foreign policy will never permit real Democracy in any Middle Eastern nations. See, "The West Is Terrified of Arabic Democracies", Noam Chomsky interviewed by Qantara, June 17, 2011. The gargantuan strategic significance of Middle Eastern oil supplies under the control of a Democratic Arab population who, polls show, overwhelmingly believe that the U.S. is their primary threat, would bring the U.S. and other western powers to their feet, as it were. The west will not permit this, and will do what it has always done.
A small excerpt from the aforementioned interview:
Noam Chomsky: “The Arab-Islamic world has a long history of democracy. It's regularly crushed by western force. In 1953 Iran had a parliamentary system, the US and Britain overthrew it. There was a revolution in Iraq in 1958, we don't know where it would have gone, but it could have been democratic. The US basically organized a coup.
In internal discussions in 1958, which have since been declassified, President Eisenhower spoke about a campaign of hatred against us in the Arab world. Not from the governments, but from the people. The National Security Council's top planning body produced a memorandum - you can pick it up on the web now - in which they explained it. They said that the perception in the Arab world is that the United States blocks democracy and development and supports harsh dictators and we do it to get control over their oil. The memorandum said, this perception is more or less accurate and that's basically what we ought to be doing.”
Qantara: “That means that western democracies prevented the emergence of democracies in the Arab world?”
Noam Chomsky: “I won't run through the details, but yes, it continues that way to the present. There are constant democratic uprisings. They are crushed by the dictators we - mainly the US, Britain, and France - support. So sure, there is no democracy because you crush it all. You could have said the same about Latin America: a long series of dictators, brutal murderers. As long as the US controls the hemisphere, or Europe before it, there is no democracy, because it gets crushed.”
economic reconstruction? Are we bringing in the World bank and the IMF again? Like Indonesia? Like Pananma? Like Ecuador? Like Chile'? Like Cambodia? Like so many countries we've help destroy. You are an educated author and you should know better than to blindly put yet another "scare" article for us to bleed on. I expected more.
This better not turn into another Afghanistan, or Pakistan for that matter.
We already have a couple of those to deal with, and that's more than enough!
We don’t know how Libya is going to turn out. Then again, we don’t know how Egypt, Afghanistan or Iraq are going to turn out either. But to paraphrase any number of Bush era officials:
“Afghanistan/Iraq/Egypt/Libya is clearly better off without the tyrant BinLaden/Hussein/Mubarak/Kaddafi.”
So although the “benefit” side of each equation is yet to be fully determined.
The “cost” side of the equation...
Afghanistan – 1,746 American Lives – US$500 Billion – Military involvement 9 years and counting.
Iraq – 4,474 American Lives – US$1.8 Trillion – Military involvement 8 years and counting.
Egypt – No American Lives – Negligible – No military involvement
Libya – No American Lives – US$ 608 Million – No military involvement.
And the big advantage of (sic) “leading from behind” is that, (to paraphrase Colin Powel):
“If you don’t break it, you don’t own it!”
I admit it. Bush was right: We need “...a more humble foreign policy without ‘Nation Building’.”
It’s a shame we had to wait 8 years for a President who would follow that advice.
I bet Sanders Tansil will get the first interview with Bobby McFerrin after Moreamore Ghadaffi is ogne!
Mr. Lindsey:
We the people have experienced the Republican gift known as the Iraq War or as I refer to it, the Illegal Debt War. I digress. We by virtue of Iraq know all the negatives that can arise. We are not idiots.
The next article you write should be all the positive things that could happen in libya. For example, it is quite possible he rebels and tribes will agree that an end to violence is necessary being they have all been victims of it. Maybe, just maybe, they will band together in a loose congress and agree upon a government of their free choosing.
Let me tell you as a Libyan my perspective of what I think should happen. At the moment everyone is armed to the teeth, and law and order has to be restored, but everyone is happy and in a brotherly atmosphere which is great , however a organized force needs to help either uniformed Libyans or UN blue hats, and every person especially the young guys that made this revolution , every Libyan should be included then the best minds will shine out of society to lead this new great nation "the new Free Libya", I'm sure everyone wants to start to help the problem is there is no organized guidance. All the young fellows are quote "on patrol" or "sweeping the area" I found it halarious how everyone is involved , but I say again there must be organization so it doesn't become pandimoniom!! God bless her after what she's indured for 42 dam bloody years. The new Government should use state TV calling on the best from each field and give people the chance to go back to work and help.
Anyone else watching the report about the journalists who were held captive? Strange that you would go to a foreign country to do a job, get too close to the action, be surprised that you were captured by a dictatorial government for five days and then have the cahunas to report about it for a half hour.
If you're a journalist (and I have been one), the story is NOT about you. I'm turning the TV off.
Iraq Afganistan both have oil and gas, Libya has oil that Europe wants this is the real reason that United States , NATO , and Israel all have troops helping the Rebels who some are open members of Islamic terrorist plus some former supporters of the king that was removed in a coupe years ago we have destroyed another nation in Africa this is not the middleEast it is Africa black Libyans and other Africans are being murdered because they supported the goverment who gave them jobs. This will only lead to years of war just like Iraq and Afganistan plus all those weapons will get in the hands of Islamic terrorists and kill people in Europe Israel and the United States thanks Obama more death and our economic situation is getting worse not better in United States and England.
Yes there should realize the opportunity to RSS commentary, quite simply, CMS is another on the blog.