Questions for Libya Interventionists

Demands for the President to back up his ill-advised assertion that "Qaddafi must go" continue to arise on both the left and the right. People on both sides are strenuously insisting that we intervene in the Libyan civil war to stop Qaddafi from defeating and slaughtering the rebels in Libya. Before we do that, however, I think we must insist on answers to some very important questions from the folks who are calling for war:

• If we decide to get overtly involved in Libya what justification do we have for not also attacking Iran and North Korea? What are the essential distinctions in the three cases? Surely both of these nations are a greater threat to us and to the world than is Libya.
• If Mubarak had resisted the Egyptian demonstrators with force should we have gone into Egypt? What about Saudi Arabia, Yemen, or Bahrain all of which are or may soon be shooting demonstrators?
• Why should we stop Qaddafi from killing rebels but not stop Ahmadinejad from building nuclear weapons that he will surely use. Why not stop Kim Jong Il who murders his people in North Korea every day? Indeed, why not launch an attack on China which is led by Hu Jintao whom President Obama honored with a lavish state dinner despite the fact that he was partly responsible for the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square?
• If we use military aircraft to impose a no-fly zone we have to destroy anti-aircraft and radar systems. This means that we will be killing Libyans on the ground. Should we do that? Why? What happens when one of our bombs goes awry and kills a family of innocent civilians and the Arab world is incensed at us (again)? Is that a risk we should take? Why?
• When the rebellion began Libyans were displaying signs saying Foreigners Keep Out and threatening to turn their guns on our aircraft if we intervened on their behalf. Now they're pleading for help. Which of these messages should we heed?
• Even if we clear the skies, Qaddafi's forces on the ground will continue to drive the rebels back and possibly slaughter them. Should we attack his ground forces? Should we insert ground troops of our own if that's what's necessary to stop Qaddafi? Exactly how far should we go to stop him?
• How long should we stay in Libya once we manage to halt Qaddafi's advance? What is our exit strategy?

There is much for which to criticize Mr. Obama in the way he has handled the Middle East and North Africa, but unless one has answers to these questions why criticize him for not going to war with Qaddafi? So far I haven't heard many answers, and I've heard none that are persuasive.