A coalition of the sane in Libya should put Moammar Gadhafi in chains and run up the white flag. Today.
That’s assuming that the colonel and his sons have not already fled to Somalia or some other kindred place.
Gadhafi wrote “fini” to his 41-year dictatorship days ago when he attacked his own people so viciously. He had lost his legitimacy as a ruler. It was obvious he could only stay in power with ruthless suppression. The Libyan delegation to the United Nations had sided with the rebels. His ambassador to the United States had denounced him. He had divorced himself from the Libyan people and the rest of the world.
Rather than recognize that reality, take his family and his billions and leave with a face-saving abdication speech, he started killing people.
The West responded Saturday with a shattering barrage of Tomahawk missiles followed by devastating attacks from fighter jets and bombers.
“We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people that there will be no mercy,” said President Barack Obama. Surely, the decision to attack provoked an all-but-universal sigh of relief around the world.
Now that the die is cast, neither the West nor the Arab League can accept any conclusion to this confrontation that leaves Gadhafi in power.
While Gadhafi had made certain that there was no organized opposition to his rule, perhaps the United Nations could respond to a request from the rebels to help them establish order and stitch together a governing council, or councils, that can tackle the task of determining what kind of government the people there want.
There would be no justification for charging anyone in Libya with crimes against the people with the exception of Gadhafi and his sons. They had all the power. They deserve all the blame — and punishment to fit their crimes. With them gone, Libya can be given the opportunity to become a civilized land.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
