Kill Qaddafi (Updated)

Update (8:55 AM, 21 March 2011): A report from FOX News indicates that the coalition did attack Qaddafi's compound with missiles fired from a British submarine. However, the coalition maintains that the attack was not targeted at Qaddafi, but was done due the military significance of the compound. Further, The Pentagon has said that the coalition is not going after Qaddafi. The Report believes this is a mistake, and that hunting Qaddafi down is something that the coalition should do. Unlike the hunt for Saddam Hussein in Iraq, however, the hunt for Qaddafi should be done without ground forces. If a location of Qaddafi is determined, then missile or air strikes should be called in.

Original Post
Leaving dictators in power, while curbing their military capabilities, has almost never been a successful strategy in the long-run. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein was allowed to remain in power for over a decade following the Gulf War. Hussein, despite embargoes and a no-fly zone, continued massacring civilians and oppressing the people of Iraq.

In Libya, coalition forces are enforcing a United Nations authorized no-fly zone and have attacked Qaddafi's military forces. Yet, Qaddafi remains defiant, believing that in the end he will prevail.

What should happen is Qaddafi should be told that he has until Noon on Tuesday to order his forces to stand down and then give up power in Libya or leave the country. If he complies, then freedom and democracy can prevail with greater ease. If he does not comply, then he will be forced out of power. If Qaddafi says he will fight to the death, then that means he gets to die. Coalition warplanes should obliterate Qaddafi's palaces, and obliterate his car, his plane, his bunker, or any location he might be hiding in, too

Libya will be a better place without Qaddafi. The people there deserve freedom and democracy, and with Qaddafi out of power, they will be be able to achieve it. A free, democratic Libya will benefit the United States and the rest of the world, as well. The investment of military action in Libya, in the long run, will pay back the American people with greater security, cheaper oil, and a stronger economy.