CAPTION.
CREDIT
For decades, Moammar Khadafy has kept al Qaeda and the Taliban in check within Libya (“Arm Libya’s Rebels,” Amir Taheri, PostOpinion, April 1).
Now some reports say President Obama secretly signed off on supplying the Libyan rebels with weapons to fight Khadafy.
I’ll give you one guess as to who the rebels are. Supplying these rebels is not in the best interest of the United States.
Richard Sarduy
Rego Park
***
While the rebels push westward, Tripoli may be in a fight for its very existence, ridding North Africa of its most brutal dictator in modern history.
Khadafy’s mechanized capabilities could make this a long, protracted encounter that could very well be hijacked by anti-democracy forces in the south.
It’s time to commit whatever is necessary to rid Libya of the stranglehold this monster has had over his own people for decades.
Let’s be realistic — either democracy will triumph or Libya may fall into the arms of anti-democracy forces.
Amir Taheri has it right: Al Qaeda may do it instead.
Theodore Miraldi
The Bronx
***
We’ve got Khadafy on one side and al Qaeda-linked rebels on the other. Shouldn’t we just be hoping for lots of casualties?
The United States should not encourage these revolutions, and we certainly have no place participating in them.
We are removing every obstacle that stands in the way of al Qaeda’s plan to take over the Middle East and north Africa, literally clearing a path for them.
Gary Taustine
Manhattan
***
I did not vote for Obama, but, as a veteran, I feel we have to support him as our president.
The only thing I wish is for the president to understand that what is happening in the Middle East is very dangerous.
Muslims do not like to kill Muslims, and we are supporting Muslims with air support and are killing Muslims.
Obama is walking a thin line here.
John Colombo
Whitestone
***
Leave it to Obama to do the wrong thing. How can he even consider arming the rebels in Libya?
We do not know who they are or who their leader is. If Obama supplies arms to the rebels, it is an act of war against Khadafy, and we do not need someone else to turn on us.
Mike Mignone
Dingmans Ferry, Pa.
***
In April 1961, 50 years ago, President Kennedy encouraged Cuban exiles and dissidents to rebel against the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Once the mission began, the United States abandoned the freedom fighters, who were then slaughtered by Cuban forces.
This sad chapter in United States history is known as the Bay of Pigs. Will the Obama adventure into Libya be a repeat?
Jack Hughes
Chicago, Ill.
***
Last I looked, Taheri held no post within the US Defense or State departments, so his clamor to “arm Libya’s rebels or al Queda may do it instead” rings hollow.
Might, instead, it not be better to cast a plague on both houses, which have bled the United States dry in blood and treasure?
Let them twist in the wind for erstwhile treachery while the United States waits for a winner. Then we’ll deal with the winner as time and circumstance demand.
Nelson Smilow
Brooklyn
***
Doesn’t it all sound so familiar?
Libya now has our CIA in the mix. Next, of course, there will be boots on the ground and casualties.
The hypocritical liberal media still see Obama as a champion of the oppressed Libyans, not as the neophyte doing a “Bush Light.”
It’s scary that our Nobel Peace Prize president likes the rush of power and adrenaline that comes with sending people into combat.
Obama is supposed to be a dove — a leftist senator opposed to military intervention anywhere in the world.
Myron Hecker
New City