Time Magazine's Major Articles Summary of Its September 5, 2011 Issue

The Liberation of Libya

President Obama insisted on a set of conditions before he would involve the U. S. in the operations in Libya. First, the local opposition movement had to be willing and able to wage war against the dictator. International action had to be requested by the locals. Second, we had to be sure that outside intervention in Libya would not be viewed as another example of Western imperialism in Muslim lands. Third, a broader, legal legitimacy was sought through the U. N. Finally, European allies would have to bear significant costs. The Bush administration fulfilled none of these conditions with regard to the Iraq war. The Libyan operation has had no American military casualties and minimal Libyan deaths. The sense is that we should do the opposite of what was done in Iraq. An army historian pointed out that there was no phase IV plan in Iraq to occupy and stabilize the country once the regime collapsed. Libyan opposition is hard at work producing detailed plans for the postwar phase. The Libyan intervention offers a new model. It was a humanitarian mission with strategic interests as well - support for the Arab spring and the new aspirations of the people of the Middle East. It also involved an America that insisted on legitimacy and burden sharing and allowed the locals to own their revolution.

The Gaddafi Regime is Broken

The revolution was not entirely an Arab effort because NATO bombers and drones played a large part. September 1^st was to have been a celebration of Gadaffi's 42^nd year in power. Instead, it honored the men who had taken him down. Green Square has been renamed Martyrs' Square. Mahmoud Gebril, the de facto Prime Minister has urged the rebels to be restrained and responsible, especially in their treatment of Gaddafi loyalists. There will no doubt be a struggle for power, with bloody elements. There has been remarkably little looting or pillaging by fighters. The Obama administration has been impressed, dispatching a team of U. S. diplomats to Benghazi. The Libyan revolution has unquestionable legitimacy because it was the Libyans who marched into Tripoli, not foreign forces. A combination of circumstances caused this revolution - a corrupt and arrogant regime too long in power, huge youth unemployment, soaring food prices, and a small group of activists using social networks and cell phones as organizing tools. Libya has some clear advantages - it has enormous oil wealth and a small population. It has a high literacy rate and little religious diversity. It does, however, have a tribal culture with more than 140 tribes with age-old enmities. But the rebel leadership can count on political, economic and military help from both Europe and the U. S.

Source: Time Magazine's September 5, 2011 Issue