Required reading for Libya Hawks

Forget Sun Tzu and von Clauswitz. With tea-meister Mortenson unmasked, US military strategists are now turning to Lewis Carroll for tips on moving effortlessly from war to war, from mess to mess, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya without missing a sip. See if the following excerpt isn’t US policy in a Mad Hatter’s tea cup:

`I want a clean cup,’ interrupted the Hatter: `let’s all move one place on.’

He moved on as he spoke, and the Dormouse followed him: the March Hare moved into the Dormouse’s place, and Alice rather unwillingly took the place of the March Hare. The Hatter was the only one who got any advantage from the change: and Alice was a good deal worse off than before, as the March Hare had just upset the milk-jug into his plate.

Or, as James M. Dubik of the Institute for the Study of War, calling for American military “advisers” to be ordered into Libya, puts it:

If Colonel Qaddafi falls, the United States and NATO will have a responsibility to help shape the postwar order, including providing security to prevent a liberated Libya from sinking into chaos.

Never heard a better rationale for keeping Col. Q in power. He continues:

While there is no guarantee that such a project will be any more efficient or effective than in Iraq or Afghanistan, failing to plan for it would be disastrous.

Come again?

While there is no guarantee that such a project will be any more efficient or effective than in Iraq or Afghanistan,failing to plan for it would be disastrous.

That’s what I thought he said.

The last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot….