Saturday, August 20, 2011

The Joy of Low Expectations

We often think that having low expectations is a bad thing as it limits ambition.  But, if the news on twitter is right and that Qaddafi might be losing power sometime soon, then isn't this a tremendous victory for NATO?  That is, it has been a half-assed effort, with only a few members doing any of the work--that would be UK, France, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Italy (sort of?) and until recently Norway.  And the big power, the US, has tried to be as behind the scenes as possible, after taking a lead role in the first few days.  Minimal effort, with fewer sorties and bombs dropped than in the Kosovo campaign, yet with high demands--regime change. 

It is too soon to say if Qaddafi will fall and what will happen next, but if it does, all that NATO irrelevance stuff will be OBE--overcome by events.  Of course, the rebels on the ground might have something to say about who gets credit.

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