As many of you may have heard by now, on Sept. 11, 2012, U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens was killed after the Benghazi consulate was attacked during a mass protest throughout Libya and Cairo. These mass protests are thought to have been caused by a film trailer for “The Innocence of Muslims,” a film that mocks the Islamic religion and even the Prophet Muhammad.
The reason for the direct attack of the consulate is not yet certain. The Libyan government claims that the attacks were being planned for months by Islamic extremists. Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., however, believes that the attacks were not planned but simply a part of the protest as a whole.
Now, this leads to the big question: Should the U.S. continue to support Libya and try to reform the country, or should it cut its losses and leave for good?
In the early 1950s the United States supported the U.N. resolution that provided Libya with independence. However, over the past 60 years there have been obstacles that have strained those relations.
Just last summer the United States helped rebel groups in Tripoli, Libya, take out Muammar Gaddafi and help establish a more efficient government. And then this: the attack and death of a United States ambassador and his staff members. The Libyan government said it was a planned attack.
I believe if the Libyan government had this information, then it must have a lot more. Specifically, who caused the attack. Was it just rioters in the street, or was it Islamic extremist groups tied to al-Qaida or the Muslim Brotherhood?
So where do we go from here? Do we continue to send money and help to a country that obviously doesn’t want us there? Or is it time that we stop playing this police-power role and start worrying more about the problems on the home front?
My opinion is that we need to leave Libya immediately. First of all, by leaving Libya we are freeing up a lot of money that could be spent in other countries that we are actually fighting in, such as Afghanistan.
Secondly, we could bring that money back into our own country and help rekindle our own economy; it wouldn’t help much, but it is a start.
We have done more than enough over the last 60 years to help finance Libya, and I think it is time to stop. There has been very little change, and every time we create a little change another dictator rises to power.
Also, it was recently released that the Libyan government, in an attempt to disarm the militants, decided to recruit them into the supporting security. In other words, they are hiring the same militants that reportedly killed the ambassador to work in their police force and establish a strong national government.
Overall, the United States needs to stop taking the role as the supreme police power and worry about the problems we face within our own borders.
