Spend billions freeing a country, end up with dead ambassador

[Wooster]

So was Libya worth it? Qaddafi sure wasn't killing our people in the last couple decades.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner...r-davis-hanson

http://www.businessinsider.com/repor...-attack-2012-9

Four dead, one of them the US ambassador. This after an embassy(Egypt) was attacked earlier. So why wasn't protection boosted? And why did the Egypt embassy apologize for free speech in our own country?

Discuss.

[TheTrueMasterofIllusions]

This is how I feel...
http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/gov-g...g-libya-attack

[Jutsu Junkie]

It's not a transaction. Anyway, people may not feel it was in our national interests, but that view is a bit myopic. We prevented genocide, and the people in that consulate believed in what they were doing. They knew the risks. They were not conscripts. In the long run, preventing genocide is better than allowing it to go forward for multiple reasons, both on the basis of ethics and on the basis of enlightened self-interest.

First, saving innocent people from immolation is an absolute good; anyone who disagrees with this simply doesn't share my values, in which case this isn't a good argument -- but it reflects poorly on those who reject this argument. You may ask if it was worth it, since there are other times when we choose to do nothing, but I can simply answer that doing something sometimes is better than doing nothing at all.

Second, this may pay dividends later, when other tinpot dictators consider whether they want to die ingloriously at the hands of otherwise weak and ragtag rebels -- they may choose to avoid genocide, even if they are brutal otherwise. Less genocide equals less global instability, and therefore a stronger world economy. That is also an absolute good.

Third, it allowed us to crack a regime that was a state sponsor of terrorism. A counter might be that we have simply swatted a wasp's nest, but that view fails to see opportunity in chaos. Even now, special forces are crawling all over that nation, make no mistake. Hundreds of terrorist groups have been let loose, and they feel safe being public about it, which makes for a target-rich environment. You may not believe they are being hunted. If so, you are probably wrong, and the attack on the consulate only strengthens our ability to deal with them, because of the political situation of the Lybian government, and the fact that most Lybians look upon us with some degree of favor now.

This was a coordinated attack, not the venting of an angry mob, and it has happened before in nations that weren't the recipient of our intervention (like Kenya). It will probably happen again, because we are fighting terrorist cowards. We have been since '93. Saving a million people won't change that, but it might make finding and killing our enemies easier.

[tanduhman]

I honestly find it hard to believe that this was over a video. It just doesnt seem realistic these killings had to be planned.