[lbo-talk] Libya

[Gar Lipow]

On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 7:05 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> On Mar 23, 2011, at 9:33 PM, Marv Gandall wrote:
>
>> On 2011-03-23, at 4:01 PM, Wojtek S wrote:
>>
>>> I am still on the fence regarding the Libya's
>>> revolution, I understand that there might be some true pro-democracy
>>> forces there, but I am reasonably certain of one thing - that there
>>> are many good ways of helping and supporting these forces, but sending
>>> F-15s and Tomahawk missiles is not one of them.
>>
>> Nice thought, but what measures did you have in mind to stop Gadhafi's planes and tanks besieging Benghazi and Misurata?
>
> I was just editing my interview with Achcar. He asks pretty much the same question, and proposes we weigh the certainty of many thousands of deaths in those cities vs. what will be many fewer from the bombing.
>
> I'm not sure what I think of this, but his interview is very strong.
>
> Doug
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>

I'd agree with this if thought Gadaffi would be brought down in a few
weesksof bombing. Then it really would a case where the interests of
empire and the interest of the people of Libya had a confluence. But
my guess is we are looking at Gadaffi keeping power in the West, U.S,
and  Nato not accepting this and continued bombing brings down water
infratructure, sanitation infrastructure etc and kills more Libyans
than Gadaffi would have. Hope I'm wrong. I may be.

But there are outcomes worse than a massacre by Gadaffi and I see a
real risk of us creating some of them. (What I mentioned is not the
only possiblity that could kill more than a Gadaffi massacre.)

-- 
Facebook: Gar Lipow  Twitter: GarLipow
Grist Blog: http://www.grist.org/member/1598
Static page: http://www.nohairshirts.com