Thinking Straight on Libya

In an article on Politico dated 3/29/2011 Joe Scarborough accuses Liberals of hypocrisy for criticizing GWB's invasion of Iraq while supporting the Obama adminstration's intervention in Libya. The point is that the situation in Libya is not like that of Iraq. In Libya there is an active uprising against a regime, but in Iraq the Bush administration invaded a country that posed no threat to the U.S. If Scarborough can't see the difference then he must be stupid.

The larger question though is whether we can really promoted democracy around the world. The best way to promote democracy would be by serving as a good example; but we haven't been doing so well in that regard. That is not the same as engaging in a reckless campaign of "revolution mongering" or worse still, invading other countries in the thought we can solve their problems.