Referees of Civil War

Very quickly, I’d like to bring up, in the context of America’s soon to be intervention in Libya, the fact that we still don’t know what we would be fighting for save the broad ideal of democracy. Barack Obama drew a line in the sand, saying that our goal would not extend beyond the protection of civilians, but are the U.S. and its allies then acting as referees in a game of civil war? And if they are, are they going to be impartial?

Of course not. Quaddafi must go; he is persona non grata throughout most of the world. How, then, does mission creep not occur if the rebels are on the verge of losing?

Egypt, the US, and the Internet

Over at the Daily Dish, Conor Friedersdorf highlights the irony of the US Senate contemplating giving the president the power to pull the plug on the internet (with no judicial oversight) while Hosni Mubarak did just that in an attempt to quell protests against his government.

We laugh at Tea Party-types that call parts of the Obama agenda dictatorial, but this is exactly the type of power that our founders wanted to keep out of government hands when they wrote the Constitution (or would  have, if they could have known that the internet would exist).

Check that last statement: the Tea Party cries tyrannical wolf and makes legitimate debate over the real encroachment of government on personal liberty appear hyperbolic. And that includes warrantless wiretapping, the indefinite detention of US citizens as terrorists, and the use of torture.

Revolution in Egypt

A few notes on Egypt:

1) I think the reaction in the US to the Egyptian crisis has been interesting. Many on the left are upset that President Obama has not done more to promote the removal of Mubarak, while most on the right have chided him for abandoning Mubarak, an important US ally in the Middle East. The talk on the right seems to be motivated by concern over the Muslim Brotherhood taking control of Egypt and the possible threat that might pose to Israel (most of what I have read, to the contrary, states that the Muslim Brotherhood, while Islamist, is actually quite moderate, and the party would be unlikely to capture more than 30 percent of Egyptian votes).

I do understand the concern for Israel. Revolutionary state theory suggests that unclear perceptions and motives in this environment make conflict more likely. Still, I believe in liberalism, and I believe that a democratic Egypt can be an even greater ally to Israel than an autocratic Egypt.  And the popular, democratic rights and desires of the Egyptian population should not be sacrificed for Israeli security concerns. If and when a new Egyptian government is formed, the US and Israel can make clear that they want friendly relations and will not tolerate threats to the Israeli state.