Although not surprised by the news that the U.S. has begun air strikes on Libya, the commencement of yet another war saddens me. Sure, so there’s been no formal declaration of war, but come on, Pentagon. We’re not playing video games here. Real people are dying. And yes, responsibility for a lot of the killing rests at the feet of Moammar Qaddafi, and no way do I want that to continue. The man’s a monster. Yet, does the U.S. have an endgame? Are we sinking deeper into the military quicksand pit that we made for ourselves in the Middle East and Afghanistan? As if we haven’t already suffered enough at home from lack of focus on job creation and economic growth …
Don’t get me wrong, I still support Obama and lament the rotten hand he was dealt from the moment he stepped into office. The nation placed in him its hope for a better future and has had to stand by while we’ve gone deeper into debt to clean up the mess that Bush left behind. But why do we have to lead yet another military campaign thousands of miles away? If we keep on going like this, soon there will be nowhere for our military to return to. Still, the humanitarian dilemma remains:
Libyan cities burn. Arms raise defiantly heavenward
in solidarity with their Egyptian neighbors. What about us?
We want freedom, too! A despot vows
to shed his last drop of blood on Libyan soil.
Soldiers fire their death sticks at the crowds and drag people
screaming from their homes in the middle of the night.
What can one expect from the mind of a madman
than the will to fight to the end? A very bitter end.
The Libyan desert turns red with the blood of its children.
© 2011, Elizabeth A. Maginnis
