Internal Monologue

No mention of asking Congress for a declaration of war, which absolutely should be done if we're getting involved. Shooting down planes, invading airspace, attacking radar installations, etc. is certainly an act of war. I'm tired of our executive branch declaring wars for us. It's blatantly unconstitutional. Obama Said no ground forces will be used, which is reassuring. But what if air power isn't enough? Are we willing to lose to Qaddafi if air power can't defeat him? How many innocent Libyans are going to be killed by our bombs? Sullivan's second round-up of Libya reactions here. MSNBC was reporting that loyalist forces were continuing to attack despite the unilateral cease-fire order. I think that cease-fire was a sham.

Thomas E. Ricks : Finally, what do we do when Qaddafi puts anti-aircraft batteries in mosques, orphanages and chemical weapons depots? Yeah. This war thing is not so simple.

(Additional Libya news resource: NPR's Libya live blog ) Josh Rogin on the Foreign Policy website: Several senators emerged from the briefing convinced that the administration was intent on beginning military action against the forces of Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi within the next few days and that such action would include both a no-fly zone as well as a "no-drive zone" to prevent Qaddafi from crushing the rebel forces, especially those now concentrated in Benghazi. "It looks like we have Arab countries ready to participate in a no-fly and no-drive endeavor," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters after the briefing. Asked what he learned from the briefing, Graham said, "I learned that it's not too late, that the opposition forces are under siege but they are holding, and that with a timely intervention, a no-fly zone and no-drive zone, we can turn this thing around." Sounds like war to me. Greenwald points out that it's totally unc

These are the days of miracle and wonder, these are the days when we live in a ridiculous science fiction world: Last year I wrote about how Craig Venter and his colleagues had inscribed a passage from James Joyce into the genome of a synthetic microbe. The line, “To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life,” was certainly apropos, but it was also ironic, since it is now being defaced as Venter’s microbes multiply and mutate. Turns out there’s an even weirder twist on this story. Reporting from SXSW, David Ewalt writes about a talk Venter just gave. Venter recounted how, after the news of the synthetic microbe hit, he got a cease-and-desist letter from the Joyce estate. Apparently, the estate claimed he should have asked permission before copying the language. Venter claimed fair use . Man, do I wish this would go to court! Imagine the legal arguments. I wonder what would happen if the court found in the Joyce estate’s favor. Would Venter have to pay

It seems to me that there are two questions that are getting mushed together here: Should outside countries intervene in the Libyan civil war, protect the rebels, and help them topple Qaddafi? Should the United States be one of those countries? It seems to me that there's a better case for European and Arab states to intervene than for the United States to intervene. This is in their sphere of influence, isn't it? If the United States is justifying intervention on humanitarian grounds, then why aren't we in Ivory Coast, Congo, Burma, and other such places?

I'm trying to figure out what is going on with Libya and American intervention there. Here's what I've figured out so far: Here's a nice zoomable map of Libya so you can figure out where these places are. The UN has authorized war on Qaddafi . The rebels are currently not doing well and forces loyal to Qaddafi are pushing towards the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. There was a lot of fighting in the past 24 hours or so around the town of Adjabiya, which is about 90 miles to the south. Loyalist forces have moved onto the road from Adjabiya to Benghazi . A lot of the bloggers I've read think that it is not in the US interest to get into a war in Libya, and that we aren't thinking about the intermediate and long term consequences of military intervention there. These include Abu Muqawama from Center for a New American Security , Information Dissemination , Marc Lynch , and Andrew Sullivan , who has been particularly vehement in his opposition. Thomas E. Ricks blogg

Is the United States going to war in Libya, or are other people? Sullivan thinks we are , but commenters at this Balloon Juice post think the authorization is so that other countries like France, Italy, and Arab League countries can do this. As much as I don't like Qaddafi, I don't know who the rebels are or what kind of government they would install. I hope for the best, but I do not think US military intervention would be a good idea. Given our current global military footprint, I think we should be getting out of places, not getting into places.