Wherefore one does not know, one should remain silent, so I'll just briefly recount the things I know. I was opposed to the last major global international military adventure and spent an inordinate amount of time of my junior year at Portland State protesting war and praying for peace. John Kerry has been the major architect of potential US enforcement of a no-fly zone, and he is the senator I probably respect most on foreign affairs. I think Matthew Yglesias was right in his book Heads in the Sand when he adroitly pointed out that we tend to overlearn certain lessons from bad military campaigns, and I'm worried an overabundance of caution on imposing a Libyan no-fly zone is coming from a people like Andrew Sullivan who were dead wrong on Iraq.
Qaddafi can't keep bombing his people, and he's got to go. I know nothing of Libyan politics besides that. I'm not signing up to be the guy with the gun who makes him do it, so for now I'll just a) say that Senate Democrats better demand due process in any campaign for war and b) pray for a just peace.
Now, back to worrying about trans-Pacific radiation plumes and iodine tablets.
(A Libyan rebel fighter readies himself before heading to battle against pro-Qaddafi forces, some 40 kilometers down the road of the northcentral city of Ras Lanuf on March 4, 2011. Forces loyal to Qaddafi have regained control of Zawiyah, near Tripoli, from rebel hands, state television reported. By Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images.)
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