Continuing Lack of US Leadership in "Arab Spring", Christian Persecution in the Middle East

Much of my adult life was governed by Murphy's Laws of Combat (originating, as they must have, from one who read Rudyard Kipling).  While admittedly whimsical, many had the hard edge of reality (e.g., "Tracers work both ways."). 

One of the more cogent rules was: "The Regimental staff's phonebook-sized operations plan never survives the first five minutes of contact with the enemy."  The same can be applied to modern international strategy, but its application has been applied selectively.  The Democrats and the MSM (but I repeat myself) were hysterical about the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Iraqi armed forces in 2003 ("mission accomplished" for phase 1 of the conflict, in that we were no longer engaging Iraqi tank brigades on line), claiming that the Bush administration had no plans for that event (see above rule).  An example of their extended pique was the great Iraqi National Museum looting hoax. 

But while no one in the Bush administration ever claimed that the aftermath of the Iraq War would be simple or easy (or without a plan, however tenuous), the Obama administration, in contrast, has pumped sweetness and light into the notion of the "Arab Spring", with the idea that they were actually able to apply the goodness of Democracy to the foreign culture of the Middle East.  They ignored the reality that Democracy as a concept is value neutral, dependant on the culture that attempts to apply it.  At the risk of violating Godwin's Law (it's not; a fact overcomes a simple strained comparison), Hitler came to power in a democratic election, and more recently the Clinton administration swooned at "free and fair elections" in the former Soviet Union which has led to the present morass of our "reset" with the Russian oligarchy. 

But as for Obama's "lead from behind" strategy (their word, not mine) in the case of liberating Libya from the grip of the bloody loon Qaddafi, we were left with (that's right)  no plan whatsoever as to how to influence events in the country that rivals only Somalia in its lack of governmental order.

Hillary's theatrics successfully deflected (for the Congress) the question of four dead Americans and the lack of response from the administration 

It is becoming increasingly obvious, from an administration that is selectively and stridently "open and transparent" about the bin Laden raid, that the subject of the Benghazi debacle is closed, and we should just move on.  As for the four dead American staff, Hillary Clinton declared in a snit "What difference does it make?"  Obama had already made up his mind on the subject early on, as by process of elimination due to lack of administration cooperation, we are left with the very likely conclusion that Obama was more focused on a Las Vegas fundraiser than he was on the siege of the Libyan Consulate.

Two Christians dead in bombed church in Dafniya/Misrata (The Times)

A recent example of how our best interests are evaporating in Libya is the arrest of four Christian missionaries – a Swedish-American, a South Korean, a South African and an Egyptian – on a charge of proselytizing, which can carry the penalty of death.  While the law extends back into the Qaddafi regime, this is the first such prosecution of the law since its downfall.  The arresting agents come from Preventive Security, "a unit created from several rebel formations during the 2011 uprising".  The US embassy in Tripoli has been silent on this story.

The left-wing Guardian quotes Bilal Bettamer, a "Benghazi lawyer and human rights activist" about how Libya is a "wholly Muslim country and Christians should not be trying to spread their faith", to wit: "It is disrespectful.  If we had Christianity we could have dialogue, but you just can't spread Christianity.  The maximum penalty is the death penalty.  It's a dangerous thing to do." 

This is what passes for a "human rights activist"? 

And while on the subject of left-wing sources, we have the Huffington Post, which reports that "… churches in the country, of which there are five in Tripoli alone, have rarely been attacked or Christians targeted, unlike in Egypt or Tunisia."  Yet within the same breath: "A church bombing in December killed two people in the Mediterranean town of Dafniya . . . . Not a day goes by without tombs being vandalised."  (Oh, well, other than that …) 

CBN reports that prior to the fall of Qaddafi there were some 100,000 Christians, but "now only a few thousand remain", which echoes the flood of Christian Coptic refugees fleeing Egypt.

Late last year, a Greek Coptic priest was shot in Tripoli and his church ransacked and burned shortly thereafter.

The International Committee of the Red Cross was run out of the country after attacks on its offices because of the perception that it is a Christian organization.

This persecution of Christians is widespread in the Middle East and is gaining momentum, seeing hundreds of thousands fleeing Syria and Egypt.  Efforts to convince Obama to intervene in the slaughter in Syria, even by members of his own cabinet, have been fruitless, likely blocked by his mentor Valerie Jarrett.  The MSM continues to give a pass to Obama as he continues to ignore the plight of the Christians.