Lincoln Says Free Libya Needs Military Help Now

Abraham Lincoln said, "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

I am reminded of this today, when the Free Libya government forming around Benghazi is asking for international help in the form of air support and arms to enable them to defeat Qadhaffi in his attempt to retake the eastern region of Libya.

For more than a week, the UN and NATO have been deliberating what to do about military aid to the Libyan freedom fighters. Their instinct is to do nothing because they believe that the Libyans will rid themselves of Qadhaffi without external intervention and because the Libyans have not asked for military help. Now they have asked.

- As we watched the bombs falling around Brega yesterday,

- As we watched the Free Libya militia race from Benghazi to Brega in pick-up trucks to help their brothers in arms overpowered by the greater military might of Qadhaffi,

- As we watched young Libyans forming into ill-equipped military units, and who vowed to die rather than to re-submit to Qadhaffi’s regime,

- As we watched them rout Qadhaffi’s half-hearted troops who tried without success to hold on to Brega and its oil depots and pipeline,

- As we watched what was most likely the deliberate misses of the Qadhaffi airplanes whose pilots bombed open fields rather than killing their fellow citizens.

As we watched, we knew the time was now to help them.

They have placed their lives on the line to be free from a tyrant. The least we can do is send the ammunition and other military aid they need to end the carnage while it is still possible to save Libya from full-blown civil war.