Iraq, Afghanistan...

Hell, we're not over-extended enough -- liberate Libya!
So sez Mr. Jeffrey Goldberg, blogger and humorist ("Jealousy ... ain't a part of me": Repeat Refrain...) currently working over at The Atlantic:

In Libya, right now, an evil man is killing large numbers of innocent people. Later, when this ends, and depending on how things go, there is a reasonable chance that the President and his advisers will feel badly about what they did, and did not, do. President Obama is undoubtedly repulsed by the actions of this evil man. He should use some of his power to fight this evil. I am not suggesting an invasion, but surely there are things that could be done, short of an invasion, that would turn the tide in this absurd and terrible civil war*, such as, for instance, shooting those Libyan jets now strafing civilians out of the sky. Freezing the assets of Libyan war criminals is fine; helping the people seeking the overthrow of those war criminals would be better.

Why don't you take up a private collection, Jeffrey? Maybe pass the hat in your circles, publicize, and collect?

I think the taxpayers are the clear losers when America continues to intervene in the Middle East. (And make no mistake: this part of Africa is geopolitically the same. We've more business in Haiti, than intervening over there.) If the leader of Libya is going to be overthrown, let the people of Libya do it. Surely they are up to the fight, and as we've seen again and again, the end result is much better when Americans don't use our military firepower to lead.

It's a sweet impulse -- this idea that America can save all innocent lives across the globe. But in reality? We'd best clean up after our own messes, before we go taking on somebody else's fight. Life is tough like that, Jeffrey, and we all mourn the innocent loss of lives, but there are limits to our military might...

Leave Rwanda out of it. (Something tells me that was a cheap ploy for him to push further Middle East intervention, not written out of concern for the already dead Tutsis -- may they rest in peace.)

Gotta watch those pro-Israel-at-all-costs guys especially closely these days... and Mr. Goldberg has done nothing but proven himself primarly that, in my humble opinion, of course.
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* See, there's a reason they call it a Civil War.

ADDED: Keep it at the humanitarian assistance level, Mr. President. Listen to wiser minds, and don't let yourself be led into going on the offense, because some lobbying group or another has you convinced this is in America's best interests.

Military planners are working on a wide range of options, said to include everything from imposing a “no-fly zone” over Libya to halt warplanes from attacking civilians to evacuation of wounded and innocents at risk to a more benign show of force off Libya’s shores, officials said.

While any American military action would be described as humanitarian assistance, it no doubt would indirectly apply even more pressure to a regime already fighting rebels from its own military who are supporting a popular revolt against the authoritarian rule.

Pentagon officials said the United States certainly would seek an international consensus for action -- most likely from the United Nations but also within NATO. And there is no appetite for assigning American ground troops to any mission.But the scope and pacing of planning underway is a substantial increase from just a week ago, when officials in Washington said that the most likely military action would come from regional states, such as Italy or France.

Officials said that the Obama administration had realized that only the American military could lead across a full range of options to halt the violence.
...
The American military has a large force of warships and combat and cargo aircraft available across Europe.

God help us all...

Think Mr. President, Think!
Before you commit to irreversible actions...