You can’t possibly mean the Russians want him to stay.
Up until they intervened, it was a pretty pathetically minimal interest. Anyway, no, the purpose of Russia’s foreign policy is not to make life difficult for the United States, and their stance toward Libya is arguably less kind than their stance toward the US (I haven’t heard Medvedev calling for Obama to step down, at least.) They agreed to abstain on the UNSC resolution that allowed intervention, so the US really has no plausible reason to reject their involvement.
That’s going to be true of any country that isn’t an outright American puppet.
The U.S. just recognized the rebel forcesas the legitimate government of Libya.
Bibliovore, hang onto your hat!
Thanks **Eva **- I’m always optimistic! 
Keep in mind that the rebel leadership is no more the result of democratic elections than the Colonel’s government is. By pretending to support democratic movements while at the same time seeking to legitimize non-democratic criminal organizations, the Empire once again reveals its rank hypocrisy for all to see. I, for one, am not fooled by the charade.
Of course not. How could it be, under present circumstances?! No time for elections or anything. Everybody running local governments and everybody in the rebel leadership is simply a volunteer nobody found too objectionable. OTOH, no volunteer was in a position to force the people to take him – the rebels are way short of being organized enough to impose any kind of tyranny in the areas they hold – so the present leaders can at least claim a democratic mandate in that negative sense. Which distinguishes them from the Gaddafi side.
Negative democracy? :dubious: I would think that’s rather a betrayal of your principles, right there. Once you begin arguing that democracy does not actually require any voting, you really can’t stop any two-bit dictator from passing himself off as a democratic leader. I wouldn’t go down that path, were I in your shoes.
Also, I like how you dismissively assume that the traitors are unable to impose their will upon the communities they control without community support. Really? You cannot think of a single situation in which an armed mob with a lot of guns is able to lord it over a civilian population sans popular support?
Yeah, BrainGlutton. The only way you can legitimately overthrow a dictator is by having elections while the fighting is going on. How could you forget these things?
There’s a “Hanging Chad” joke in here somewhere.
I’m a grownup, thank you, and quite capable of forming my own opinions about who sucks more in Libya. As it would be difficult to suck more than Qadaffi, I’ll give the new guys a chance to show their stuff before dismissing them out of hand.
Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! has already done it, I’m afraid. (In regard to the last Afghan election, someone said roughly, “They take their elections very seriously in Afghanistan. When there’s a hanging chad, they’re literally hanging someone named Chad.”)
Why, it’s almost as if Commissar wanted a tyrant like Quadaffi in charge, despite the fact that the economic status of his people is dismal in terms of unemployment, health care, access to basic services, etc… and as he supports totalitarianism, he believes that people have no right to vote to change their government and that they can in fact be murdered simply for asking for freedom and democracy. And then if they exercise the only possible alternative open to them at that point and attempt violent revolution, then by gum they’re in the wrong for not holding elections (and also they’re “criminals” for not just shutting up and accepting that any strongman who seizes power is now their God Given Ruler). And if they were somehow to hold elections, why, then they’d still be invalid because they couldn’t include the citizens of areas still held by a nation’s totalitarian government.
You damned hypocrite Empire Empire Empire Empire Empire Glorious!, you.
Almost as if the argument itself is a game and a series of rationalizations.
Curiouser and curiouser.
:dubious: I don’t dismissively assume it, I know it from news reports. Reliable ones like CNN and al-Jazeera English.
BrainGlutton: Would you be interested in a “gentlemen’s bet” to the effect that Commissar’s goingto call al-Jazeera part of “Christendom”?
:mad: Well, he won’t now, dammit!
As of five hours ago, still fighting for Brega. (Brega.)
Whatever Gaddafi spokesmen might say, that don’t sound much like a full-on, NATO-coordinated-and-supported assault to me!
The US government has recognized the rebels as the legitimate government of Libya:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/16/world/africa/16libya.html?_r=1&hp
Scooped upthread: