Quote Originally Posted by jmm99 View Post
How warped we (US) have become is illustrated by the fact that the greatest amphibious force in the World has spent the last decade prowling about either desert or mountains.

Regards

Mike
I don't know that I'd say we've "become" that warped. I'd actually contend that we've just been plodding blindly down the "interventionist" path first blazed by Woodrow Wilson before World War I. There have been occasions where we've intervened (and chosen NOT to intervene) based on a clearheaded view of national interest, but I'd argue that they have been few and far between since Theodore Roosevelt (which should tell you how often I think we've screwed up in this area).

That said, I'd say that our moment to take effective action in Libya is long passed (if in fact there was a moment for us to take such action), and we should cut our losses. Not very PC, but it's where we're left standing. Better to quietly use whatever influence we have left in the region in areas where it might have been effect (Egypt, the Gulf States, and so on).