Qaddafi's Days (Mins) Are Numbered. Now What?

Reports have abounded around the Internet Sunday night. By the time you read this, things may or not have significantly changed. But the situation, as it seems right now is that Libyan rebels have been continually pushing back loyalist troops and have now entered Tripoli. It now seems that brutal Qaddafi’s 42-year rule is effectively over. And while Qaddafi’s fate is not yet known, it seems the Libyan rebels have won the day.

With all the talk of Libyan rebel’s victories and advances with our military help, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that President Obama got us involved in Libya under the pretense of a pending humanitarian crisis. We had no choice but to go in and protect the same people now rejoicing in victory in Tripoli, remember?

It should be evident that from the beginning, this was not an effort to prevent a human disaster. It has been from the beginning, the U.S. taking sides in a civil war. That, by itself, does not make it bad policy. Qaddafi and his regime are evil. But this outcome, military intervention in a civil war to remove Qaddafi from power, is exactly what President Obama told the nation would be a mistake. Not my words, his.

Of course, there is no question that Libya—and the world—would be better off with Qaddafi out of power. I, along with many other world leaders, have embraced that goal, and will actively pursue it through non-military means. But broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake.

So now we have done exactly what we said we would not do and that the President himself warned would be a mistake. Now the glaring question, will it be a mistake?

Removing an evil thug from his tyrannical rule seems to be a good thing and perhaps it is. But the Administration, now more than ever, must make sure that we will not cause the humanitarian crisis we pretended we invaded Libya to prevent.

The end of the Qaddafi regime will leave a vacuum. The only question is who will fill it? The Libyan rebels? The Democracy minded? Islamists? Or worse? It is worth reminding that the Egyptian regime that kept peace these many years with Israel was also recently deposed and left a leadership vacuum. It should be noted that the new Egypt has already lost control of Sinai from where attacks on Israel are now being launched. Arab spring indeed.

We need to make sure that in the quest and competition to fill the power vacuum that will surely follow in Libya is peaceful and orderly. We must protect the Libyan people at the same time protecting Libya’s neighbors. We may have lied about why we invaded Libya, but now we must make sure we actually do it. Otherwise, we are the humanitarian crisis we have been waiting for.