World leaders could well look at the Libya situation and ask - " where do we go from here ? "
They have applied a " no fly " edict to prevent Gadaffi from bombing his own people, but there is no suggestion of committing ground troops. Gadaffi has threatened to open his weapons stores and arm civilians to protect his regime - and in retaliation the west may supply heavier weapons to the rebels to even up the contest. That would be a sure recipe for civil war !
We could end up with a split country. Gadaffi and his thugs ruling half the country from Tripoli - and a rebel regime operating out of Benghazi.
It would be wise counsel for the west to pass the problem to the Islamic nations of the region. Western involvement will be met with suspicion by many Islamists and if troops are needed to settle the matter, surely Muslims settling a Muslim dispute would be preferable to soldiers of other religions fighting on Muslim land.
But - that presents another intractable problem. Muslims of what creed ?
Islam is not a united religion. Sunni and Shia are just as opposed as Protestants and Catholics used to be - and each country has some sort of mixed balance. Making the wrong choice of troops could simply widen the civil war - into a regional war between the two branches of the one religion.
Add politics to the religious divide - and you have a sure recipe for an ongoing disaster !
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