Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Vol. CLIV, Issue 6
Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

World Police Return to Libya

If you’ve ever watched “The Simpsons,” you know that Homer Simpson has a good heart. He messes up (a lot) often because of poor reasoning or self-interest, but he tries to be better and is rarely ever truly malicious.

A lot of the time I feel like the United States acts like Homer Simpson. We overstep our boundaries for selfish reasons, and we mess up quite a bit –– we may have a good “heart,” but oftentimes it remains hidden under our large belly.

This was my first thought when the United States conducted a raid on Saturday, Oct. 5 to capture Anas al-Liby, a leading al-Qaeda terrorist in Libya and also a Libyan national. He was captured and brought to a secure location outside of Libya. The United States saw an opportunity of which they took advantage, but they failed to notify the Libyan government. The United States officially stepped on the new Libyan government’s toes. The Libyan government desires to try al-Liby in Libya. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said, “Our relationship with the USA is important, and we care about that, but we care too about our citizens, which is our duty.”

Defending U.S. actions, Secretary of State John Kerry noted, “We hope that this makes clear that the United States of America will never stop in the effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror.” It’s true, the terrorist, al-Liby, was apparently responsible for bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa in the 1990s.

Yet how far should U.S. jurisdiction go? Do we really give ourselves unlimited power over the entire world?

Many times I feel like the United States is in a vicious cycle. Tyrion Lannister of  “Game of Thrones” put it best: “It seems every time we deal with an enemy, we create two more.” Ever since World War II, the United States has been dubbed itself the “Leader of the Free World.” Because of this, the United States feels compelled to act in a nature that defends our interests, often leading us to mess up big time. We see examples of this even today. Iran is still ruled by a government that came to power using anti-U.S. rhetoric.

The United States needs to stop over-extending its reach. It’s impossible to police the world and the more we try, the more enemies we create. If the United States continues in this vein, I fear the backlash will continue to get worse and worse.

The fact is there are no boundaries on the U.S. military. The whole government was founded on a system of checks and balances, yet currently, there is none for how the United States conducts its raids.

The United States may want to protect Bart, Lisa, Marge and Maggie as much as possible, but the more we step on Ned Flanders’ toes to do so, the more backlash there will be in the future.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All Whitman Wire Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *