Libya

So the United Nations agreed to impose a no-fly zone over Libya in order to prevent Ghadafi from using air strikes against the rebels.

Now everyone is talking about whether the United Nations should arm the rebels. The rebels will need a full spectrum of ground combat weapons and training. It will take time to arm them, train them, and wait for their victory. And while we wait, we have to pay for their expenses and for what it costs us to maintain the no-fly zone.

Why not just send in a professional military to defeat Ghadafi and hand the country over to the rebels? We can achieve victory faster and spare the lives of many Libyan citizens in the process.

There's also no need to maintain a United Nations "peace keeping" force there later - just issue a warning to all countries that if they attack Libya during its reconstruction phase the United Nations will defend Libya and counter-attack the attacker's country - not just to get them out of Libya but to disable the attacker's own military for a significant enough amount of time that the attacker would be vulnerable to attack by their own neighbors.  Such a warning is a good deterrent - and if it's tested a decisive follow-through will ensure that the next such warning will be an even better deterrent.