Regarding Libya and the imposition of the no-fly zone

Modern government and thus the UN appear to govern on basis of whimsies. Whimsies which make good media, to impress us, the people.

Regarding the no-fly zone: what is the end situation the UN desires ? All I see is the application of tactics without a strategy and this is bound to go awry.


How long does the UN want to stick this out - and how will the participating nations finance this ? Looking at most western governments (e.g. the UK), the one moment dramatic cuts are being made to the military's budget, the next moment that same military is being asked to engage on extremely expensive operations. How many wars do you have to fight simultaneously before realising you're overstretched ?
(A cynical thought pops to mind, does this then allow the budget to be increased surreptitiously through emergency funding ?).

Libya is now in a state of civil war - the UN's external influence will benefit one side (a rebel organisation of which we know next to nothing) and disadvantage the other side (a government with which the West was very happy to deal up to just over a month ago).

Unfortunately for the innocent, only the parties involved will be able to end this. External military might won't help - external diplomacy might.

Disclaimer: this is a more serious post than normal - but I was triggered by the media focusing on the military porn of the Western intervention in Libya. As long as it makes good video, it must be good. The above comment was submitted to the BBC's "Have your say"; I wonder if it gets posted ...