How long until Libya turns into afghanistan?

We have been witnessing a steady chain of events that are making us more and more involved with a middle-eastern country. What first started with sanctions and freezing assets, has now turned into financial support of a revolution. President Obama has recently authorized $25 Million in aid to the Libyan rebels to protect civilians from Qaddafi's forces. While I agree that the United States should intervene when a tyrant wants to harm innocent people, I do not agree with the strategy that our Government has been taking recently.

Is it possible to launch missiles into a sovereign state without declaring war? I don't think so, and feel that the recent actions taken should have gone before Congress. I believe that if we feel that we must intervene and protect the Libyan people, we must do so confidently and with great resolve. It seems to me that right now we are unsure what we are doing and I believe that doing something half-way never turns out good in the end. Another thing that I find unsettling is that some politicians have concerns that the rebels have ties to terrorist groups. That is why President Obama did not authorize cash or weapons, instead sending only medical supplies, gear, and Halal meals. The funny thing is that the administration also eased sanctions allowing oil controlled by the rebels to be bought by US companies so that they can the get cash to buy weapons.

What I am curious about is how much longer until our troops will be deployed to Libya. I do not believe that this will end anytime soon and remember laughing out loud when President Obama said that the operations in Libya would be over in days, not weeks. I feel that this will drag on until Millions upon Millions have been spent, and too many of our troops have made the ultimate sacrifice. What makes me upset is that I feel this is all about Oil and ultimately Money. Would we be going this far if Libya were not sitting on top of a HUGE oil reserve?

Is Islamophobia still lingering?

   I read a very interesting blog posting titled Islamophobia by Lyndi Vauhan. In her blog she discusses how Americans are still living in fear and condemnation of the muslim community over 10 years after the September 11 attacks. I agree with Lyndi in many ways. Although it is true that the september 11 hijackers were indeed muslims, their actions should not reflect on the entire muslim community. If you stop and think about how many who claimed to be Christians have murdered innocent people, we should all be scared of Christians as well. The actions of a few should not be placed over an entire group of people making up the world's second largest organized religion. On the other hand, I  believe that our Government is trying to reverse the tide. Acts like supporting the ground zero Mosque, providing grants for Muslim understanding, and aid to middle eastern protesters seem to be very politically driven. I feel that our Government is trying hard undo the damage caused by a few extremists, while at the same time protecting us from others who might want to follow their foot steps.