U.S. Relations With the Changing Arab World
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-03-21/us-relations-changing-arab-world
Today marks the third day of the U.S. led attack on Libya. American and European forces have been hitting Muammar Gadhafi’s troops by air and sea. The United Nations’ sanctioned operation aims to protect civilians from attack. Some critics are asking is it too little too late while others question getting into a third war in the Muslim world. President Obama said he’s aware of the risks of military action but also said, “we can’t stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people that there will be no mercy.” Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright joins Diane in the studio to discuss the latest on the Libyan mission and what it means for U.S relations with a changing Arab world.
Guests
Secretary Madeleine Albright
Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Chair of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets, former Secretary of State in the Clinton Administration.
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Professor of American Foreign Policy, Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. and former National Security Advisor to President Carter from 1977 to 1981.
David D. Kirkpatrick
New York Times Cairo Bureau Chief
Sen. Charles Grassley
(R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Budget Committee.
Amb. Richard Haass
president, Council on Foreign Relations, author of "A War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars," and former director of policy planning for the Department of State, where he was a principal adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
It's wrong for us to be overthrowing the government of a country that has not attacked us. What we've done is take what would have been a short armed insurrection and prolonged it in to a full scale civil war...one that is very likely to result in far more civilian deaths. I'm just astounded at how president after president is wagged by the "military tail" into fighting war after war. This is a pure win for the military industrial complex. They get to use their toys again to kill people and destroy infrastructure. Then we get to sell them more used military equipment at huge profits. Frankly, it's a disgrace and a terrible precedent.
As I listen to Dr. Brezinski, I hear the drumbeat for war. There is no evidence that there would have been mass slaughter of civilians in Libya. It's far more likely that the rebels would have fled across borders and that those left behind might have been arrested, but if they weren't in armed rebellion, it's at least as likely they would not have been killed...especially if we had had the patience to apply reasonable pressure and offer him viable options. This is simply a case of imperial powers continuing to dominate weak third world countries because we have a right to their oil resources. Stop buying his oil and Ghadaffi would lose his grip. Why is the media beating the drum for war? This is just like the run up to Iraq!
It seems to me that critics of the current strategy are drastically overlooking the diplomatic successes of getting the United Nations involved and having this be a multi-lateral affair. However, given the recent concerns raised by the Arab League (whose support was critical for U.N. involvement), is there a danger that their critical views may get easily overlooked throughout this process? Above everything else, we should ensure that as little moral high ground (or the appearance of moral high ground) as possible is given to the Gadhafi Regime. Otherwise, this effort could slip into another situation similar to Iraq and Afghanistan in the eyes of the Arab people.
Why would you invite two guests who are like dweedle-dee and dweedle-dum on Middle East policy? Why not include someone like Representative Dennis Kucentis who is raising concrete issues about U.S. involvement in a civil war. What if foreigners had intervened in the U.S. civil war? The Arab League is comprised of some of the most authocratic nations in the world, several of which are now involved in the coalition. This whole operation stinks and wreaks of pure colonialism. Shame on Brezenski, Albright, the U.S. and the European governments. I can understand why the African Union chose to boycott this effort, given that Lybia is organized on the same tribal basis, and Gaddifi has chosen to identify more closely which the continent that he shares geography with. When this conflict started, some many countries' people fled Lybia which makes me suspicious about anything but economic interests -- Europe wants to secure this oil supply. What a joke about not standing by and watching a massacre, when we've done it every time in Africa and other Middle Eastern countries.
Fighting for democracy is inspiring but I have grave concerns regarding the United States entering yet another theater of war. How do we ask our military to participate when some have already served 4-5 tours in Iraq and Afganistan? How do we support the financial, physical and emotional aspects of this? I know Pres. Obama stated that there would be no ground troops in Libya but now the flood gates have been opened and there is no way to guarantee our future position.
It seems to me that in the short term a standoff in Libya is of great value. We'll have a chance to see if the rebels constitute themselves as democratic, and we won't be subject to the accusation of overreaching.
Why isn’t oil part of the discussion? Is it just coincidence that Libya has oil reserves that are important to the Europeans and therefore impact the global price of oil. But the world is standing by while many other atrocities are going on in countries without oil.
Welcome to the Club President Obama
You are officially a War Criminal
Condi = Hillary
Susan Rice = Powell
Wolfowitz, Perle, et. al. = still the same ZionCon criminals
n/a
Question 1:
My grandchildren (ages 7 and 9) use, for example, Jane and me ...
I hesitate to correct them, as I'm not sure at what age this would be helpful, as opposed to having a negative effect.
Question 2:
I subscribe to the New York Times print edition. I have noticed that even renowned journalists make grammatical errors in print. I get very annoyed about this. Should I just relax and "get over it"?
Contrary to what Diane said, this is not a US led attack...at least that is the official position, as we have been led to believe by our government.
Why was this effort not made in Sudan, where the slaughter continues? Oh, I forget, there is no oil there, right?
The topic of gender neutral language is very important and needs to be addressed by publishers. I am currently working with my 6 year old daughter on reading and the worksheets that are sent home continue to use "he" as the majority of pronouns vrs. "she" or "one". My daughter becomes very indignant when reading he for everything. I had those same feelings growing up and that's what started me on the feminist path. I hate that in the year 2011 this has not been ameliorated or amended yet. She gets so angry she scratches the words out as she reads. This is a distraction for her and impedes her progress. Please publishers show women the respect they deserve and use "one".
I wish we could know more about the Lybian population who supports Kadhafi : Who are they ? Are numerous are they in relation to a population of 6 or 8 million ?--- Thank you
1) Detailed description of Gaddafi's ground forces, heavy armour, etc that was, until a couple of days ago advancing on Benghazi:
http://www.channel4.com/news/libya-gaddafi-troops-on-the-road-to-benghazi
2) after allied intervention:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368221/Libya-Benghazis-dreadful...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3480334/GADDAFFIS-HQ-BLOWN-TO-...
3) "Colonel Gaddafi's son 'killed in kamikaze pilot attack on Tripoli barracks', 21_02-2011:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368410/Libya-crisis-Gaddafi-use...
4) alleged allied forces' Libya 'battle plan':
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3480529/Where-is-Colonel-Gadda...
That little country in Israel, had three enemies for decades:
a) Saddam
b) Ghaddafi
c) whoever was in Iran .... Ahmedinejad
Just don't cross Tel-Aviv, or else!
If more than 95% of the Libyan People does not support Ghaddafi 100%, my name is Hillary Clinton.
The Media is lying thru its teeth, with carefully selected correspondents and talking points.
Think, people ... use your brain:
The story of Libya is total opposite of Egypt.
More than 35% of the adult population is foreign workers to American Teachers. That means, unemployment must be close to absolute 0. Education is free, healthcare is 100% free. Ghaddafi has always been on the "right" side of the issues when it comes to Arab, Palestine and African issues.
Think, think, think.... He is killing "his own people"... what a lie, what a joke ... so that we can do Israel's work of pitting Arabs against each other.
Charles Grassley- then and now
“We're doing it under the auspices of a U.N. resolution. We're trying to abide by the rule of law as much as we can. We're taking it step by step. I think there's going to be major responses. I think that there's some criticism that there's not an end game that's been enunciated, but I think it's similar to what we did in the Balkans in the mid '90s when Europe was not responding. There was genocide. We decided that we had a responsibility to make sure that innocent people weren't killed, particularly when it was just because of a vacuum created by the rest of the world where we have a tradition of trying to maintain the rule of law and also maintain as much peace and lead people live their lives, you know. And that's what we're trying to do.”
Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues & Strategy Bulletin of June 30, 1999
BOB SMITH AND ONLY 20 OTHERS VOTED AGAINST FUNDING CLINTON'S BOMBING OF SERBIA
On May 26, the Senate voted 77 to 21 (Roll Call No. 151) to reject a move by Senator Robert C. Smith (R-N.H.) to cut off funds for U.S. participation in Bill Clinton's Balkans bombing campaign.
Senators who voted with Smith against funding President Clinton's unconstitutional bombing of Yugoslavia were: Allard (R-Col.), Bunning (R-Ky.), Burns (R-Mont.), Cleland (D-Ga.), Craig (R-Idaho), Crapo (R-Idaho), Enzi (R-Wyo.), Feingold (D-Wis.), Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), Gramm (R-Tex.), Grassley (R-Iowa), Gregg (R- N.H.), Helms (R-N.C.), Hutchinson (R-Ark.), Inhofe (R-Okl.), Nickles (R-Okla.), Santorum (R-Penn.), Sessions (R-Ala.), Thurmond (R-S.C.), and Voinovich (R-Ohio).
In order to effectively target Ghaddafi's ground forces- such as those in Libyan cities such as Misurata, Zintan and Ajdabiya and that are equipped with heavy armour- requires the use of airborne drones which can only be deployed from land-based airports/airfields...,
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/one-small-step-for-a-uav-one-big-ste...
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/warrior-ermp-an-enhanced-predator-fo...
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/UAE-Tie-Up-Inroduces-the-RQ-1-Predat...
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/uavs-drive-satcom-modernization/
Both intelligence-gathering and weapons-carrying drones have- at least as far as Libya goes- highly operationally-problematic limited ranges,
As such, drones- and of most relevance to Libya's cities occupied by Gaddafi forces: weapons-carrying drones- could not be deployed from air bases that are far from Libya such as those in in Italy or Cyprus...
Without cooperation from Egypt or Tunisia, the use of airborne drones in/over Libya by allied forces would require the establishment of temporary bases in Libya by allied forces...
Roderick V. Louis
Vancouver, BC, Canada