As for Libya, we'll sit on our hands.

RE: Diplomacy Stalls as Libya Rebels Face Pro-Qaddafi Forces
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/africa/16libya.html

So we are willing to let a tyrant retake power and will do nothing to stop him. We will not attempt to halt the violent attacks against civilians; we will sit silently by at the massacres that will ensue, once his forces roll in. Bravo, the West! Bravo, Russia! Bravo, China!

As for those countries that are blocking the no-fly zone in the UN Security Council -- since when is it your prerogative to decide what happens to the Arab world and its people? The Arab League wants a No-Fly Zone. The leaders of the free area of Libya (now) want a No-Fly Zone. But you still refuse to authorize it.

Do you actually *want* Qaddafi to come back to power?!?

The world screws over the democrats (or at least the more democratically-oriented faction) time and again, claiming that we "can't get involved." Spain 1936. China 1937. We let the fascists roll through (literally fascists in these two cases -- domestic ones like Franco, and external ones like the Imperial Kwantung Army) -- and then what happens next?

dBut perhaps that is too dramatic. In this case, I suspect the rammifications for the world in Libya will be far less. There will just be tremendous suffering for the Libyan people who have the yoke of dictatorship cast over their lives again. And maybe some higher oil prices (oh dear) for a while, until we cast our lot in with this megalomaniac, because we are such wh-res for crude oil that in time we'll deal with his regime, we'll deal with any regime.

It's frustrating because this isn't Hungary, this isn't Prague -- there's no Soviet Union looming over a geopolitical battlefield. There's just one somewhat unhinged man, and his supporters with a ton of arms, unafraid to unleash these weapons on his own people. And still, we can do nothing -- or at least we choose do nothing. What does it mean to live in a post-Cold War world? Just what are the implications of referring a case to the ICC? We won't even take a stand when we know there's a murderous dictator on the rampage, seeking retribution, and hammering towns with his iron fist (backed up by artillery and attack helicopters), lobbing explosives into the midst of innocent civilians and resistance fighters. It doesn't even make political sense to allow this to happen, unless you want Qaddafi to return to power and re-establish control over the whole country -- which it is starting to seem like he is apt to do.

One of the leaders of the National Council (on the free Libyan side) pointed out that it's better for the conflict to an end in the favor of the rebels sooner rather than later. Otherwise, if Qaddafi reasserts himself, and the conflict becomes a protracted battle or a "guerilla war", then jihadists will make their way to Libya -- and then you have Afghanistan again. Why can't we support the democratic forces and let them emerge victorious? Don't we want to prove that democracy can work? Or do we want to hand the jihadists another battlefield, another recruiting ground?

In the end, I get a little bit of a sinking feeling that we actually *want* events on the ground to overtake diplomacy. If we keep dithering, then eventually a No Fly Zone will do no good -- or as the article puts it, "With the advances made by loyalists, there is growing consensus in the Obama administration that imposing a no-flight zone over Libya would no longer make much of a difference." And then we won't have to take it on. We'll have conveniently washed ourselves of the responsibility to act. Wait it out -- that's Russia and China's strategy for events like this, and it's starting to feel like it's Obama's strategy too. Wait it out, and there will no longer be agency, and then what's done is done.

How bleak. How cynical. How irresponsible. How pragmatic.

Happy Double Ten Day! 雙十節快樂！

October 10 is the National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

On this day, we commemorate the 1911 Revolution, which began with the Wuchang Uprising, and ultimately led to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China. It was a momentous occasion in Chinese history -- and the dream is still alive!

Let us celebrate the valor and determination of the revolutionaries, and join hands to continue putting into practice the principles the ROC stands for: Liberty (自由)、Equality (平等)、Democracy (民主)、and the Rule of Law (法治).

Today, despite the travails of the twentieth century, the ROC survives on the democratic island of Taiwan. For people of Chinese heritage all over the world, this is our legacy and the gift of our forebears. We willl never forget it!

Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the Republican Revolution and Father of the Nation.
《共和革命領導者、國父孫中山先生的畫像》

十月十日是中華民國的國慶日！

這一天，我們紀念1911年的辛亥革命。那一年的十月十日，發動了具有劃時代意義的武昌起義。 起義的勝利導致清政府的推翻和皇帝專政統治的滅亡，以及中華民國的建立。 這是中華歷史的璀璨事跡，夢想依然延續至今。讓我們繼續攜手實踐中華民國所代表的信念：自由、平等、民主、法治。

這是祖先們留下來的寶貴資產。身為炎黄子孫的後代，我們決不輕言放棄！

Scouts and the ROC Flag: Blue sky, white sun, red earth. (Image source)

中華民國國旗：青天、白雲、滿地紅