wc@75: Libya just doesn’t seem that important to me. That makes me wonder if something else is important.

My thought exactly. Just as I’m starting to wrap my mind around the magnitude of the Japanese catastrophe, I read that “we” are “invading” Libya – because the French want it but don’t have the air power.

The only “something else” is a real world exercise to consolidate the Petraeus Doctrine of enabling Arab League peace-making capabilities, as per Victor above. I’m skeptical. It’s one of those ideas that presents well, but executes poorly. Long term, I think it is inevitable (65-35 or better if both the Arabs and the Persians weren’t possessed of such hyper-volatile temperaments.)

Short-term the only important foreign policy objective in the ME, from the POV of USA interests, is preventing any of the Islamic players from acquiring nuclear weaponry. I expect it’s already too late.