07-06-2017, 09:55 AM
(07-05-2017, 12:07 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote:(07-05-2017, 11:13 AM)Warren Dew Wrote: > I'm not talking about retrospect, though. Even at the time, the
> justification for interfering in Kosovo was humanitarian, not US
> national interest, and similarly getting rid of Qadafi was
> justified based on wanting to spread democracy, not US national
> interest. In the latter case there might have been some jockeying
> between French oil interests and Italian oil interests, but that
> didn't affect the US.
Well, as I recall, there was some Nato involvement in both cases, and
Nato is a national interest. In the Kosovo war, there was a very
harsh memory of the Bosnian war. In Libya, Gaddafi was threatening to
massacre the enemy tribes, which would have worsened the refugee
crisis into Tunisia, Egypt and Europe. That goes well beyond
"spreading democracy." I really believe that you're oversimplifying
the motivations that were in effect at the time of the actual military
actions. If "humanitarian needs" and "spreading democracy" were
enough to start a war, then we'd be in 50 wars today, and obviously
we're not.
I'd concede that in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Libya, we basically got dragged in by Europe, though I still contend that it was based on humanitarian arguments. I'm not sure to what degree that addresses Cynic Hero's issues, since Europe's national interests are not necessarily our own.
