The Libyan Revolution

Early on during President Obama's decision to intervene (by air) in Libya, when he was taking shots from both left and right, I offered my thanks on this blog for his decision to avert a massacre by the malignant Gaddafi regime.  More recently, I've been much less sanguine about the consistency and principled nature of Obama's foreign policy.  But I stand by my belief that he made the right call in Libya (even if he later offered implausible arguments for why American military action there did not implicate the War Powers Resolution).  Recent events in Libya confirm the wisdom of President's Obama choice here, as well as that of Secretary of State Clinton who had urged the President to take action.

In the New York Times, columnist Nicholas Kristoff's encouraging report best sums it up, with important qualifications as well; herewith a couple of excerpts:

Americans are not often heroes in the Arab world, but as nonstop celebrations unfold here in the Libyan capital I keep running into ordinary people who learn where I’m from and then fervently repeat variants of the same phrase: “Thank you, America!”

* * *

President Obama took a huge political risk, averted a massacre and helped topple an odious regime. To me, the lesson is not that we should barge into Syria or Yemen — I don’t think we should — but that on rare occasions military force can advance human rights. Libya has so far been a model of such an intervention.

Catholic teaching cautions us to be careful about the use of military force.  Catholic writers and thinkers too often extend that to opposing every use of military force.  Acknowledging that "military force can advance human rights" needs to be part of that discussion.