Anarchists for Imperalism

I am a staunch anti-imperalist. And yet I find myself a little torn at the American/French/English intervention in Libya. Speaking from an American perspective, the intervention was a violation of the War Powers Act, which in and of itself is probably unconstitutional. So legally, it was wrong.

The US has a tremendous deficit, and it will probably end up costing hundreds of millions of dollars to fight a third war. Financially, it was wrong. Morally, the US has ignored human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen and various other nations. Granted, the fighting in Libya right now is worse than those other countries, but to completely ignore the other situations shows a lack of concern for human rights (the supposed motive).

So what is the US's interest in Libya? After initially criticizing Kaddafi, the Libyan leader (who looks like an alien) vowed to never sell oil to the west again. Bad move on his part. The US must figure if the rebels win, their support will buy them access to the Libyan oil fields again.

Still, with all of that said, I find myself glad that the Libyan rebels weren't crushed and slaughtered by Kaddafi, who was even hiring mercenaries from other countries. And it would certainly be a good thing if Kaddafi was sent to the ash bin of history, or held trial for his crimes.

But will this turn out good? Will the intervention inflame the situation and lead to more loss of life? It's hard to say. I am cautiously optimistic.