What the heck is REALLY happening lately in the Middle East???

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

The reality of what is happening in Libya right now is nothing short of awful. I don't understand the scarce coverage being given on U.S. television, and while I'm not sure that foreign intervention is the right thing yet, scenes like these:

(WARNING: THESE ARE VERY GRAPHIC)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-a...s-and-video/4/

...are very disturbing and leave me wondering how long the world will continue to sit back and carry on with this 'wait and see' approach while Gaddafi orders the murder of civilians.

I think it's tempting to think that the U.S. or some western alliance should intervene, despite the fact that we're already fighting two wars. Three, if you count the so-called "war on terror." But at the end of the day it's another "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. If we sit on our hands and do nothing, the U.S. will be accused of tacitly condoning the corrupt regimes fighting against their own people; the last thing U.S. needs is yet another leaderless, broken country on its hands full of ethnic tribes that hate each other. On the other hand, if the U.S. does support the rebels, the U.S. then gets accused of "nation building" ala Iraq or scouring to feed its oil addiction. And Iran will find it yet another excuse to rally the Arab countries to fight off "the infidels" and give them further reasons for trying to wipe Israel off the map. After all, the Jews are the enemy, not the Arab dictators robbing their own countries blind!

If nothing else, this is not a referendum on the state of theocratic absolute governmental authority in the Middle East as much as it is a referendum on Facebook! My goodness, Mark Zuckerberg must feel quite pleased with himself knowing that he is responsible for what is becoming one of the most significant socio-political movements in modern history. And to think... it all started because he wanted to start a "hot or not" website for Cambridge-area universities...