Is Giving Aid Always Necessary?

After Moammar Gadhafi stepped down on February 11th the United States military stepped in to give aid to the country. Is this a good move for the United States to help other countries all the time? Is this necessary? Dr. Smith, a business professor, shed some light on this subject.

Smith feels that the reason the military entered Lybia is “to somewhat level the playing field between the forces of the current regime, Gadhafi regime and what they perceive to be a need to the rebels I guess out there.” Regarding the question of whether entering Lybia was necessary; Smith may not be sure but has some idea. “I guess it’s necessary from the standpoint that if we want to promote the ideology of democracy being a good thing and if we see an opportunity, that’s a positive thing. […] I’m not sure why it’s necessary, can I justify why we’re there, probably.”

The idea of the military leaving Lybia is a long shot, but may be possible: “I believe in Lybia, not having men and women on the ground [troops having to go in to fight] at least is easier to exit out of it. I guess theoretically we could leave tomorrow. […] I’m not sure you’re going to get out there anytime soon as anybody else is going to get out of there.” Smith said.

The United States is a state that may need to stretch their helping hand: “Could we do more? We probably could be there more; we could probably give more humanitarian service via military. I think what the military might tell you, if I’m putting on their hat for a minute, we’re not real good at humanitarian services, it’s not what we’re trained to do. I think like any nation we pick and choose what’s important to us as well.” Smith replied.

Our military has aided many different times with many different countries, like Japan, World War II, and Kuwait. Smith gives his opinion on why we currently help other places and how we feel that we have to help: “Maybe we step in more for humanitarian things than in the past. I think we realized as a nation we can’t be [as] near as isolated as we want to be. [In] World War II we tried to be more isolated and realized we really couldn’t stop the work occurring around us.”

Smith feels that some countries need to solve their own problems on their own. Smith also feels that these problems, like civil wars for example, should be dealt with only the people in that area: “To me personally, when I think of civil wars, I’m not sure another nation should be in a civil war, it is between the people of that nation.” For example, the war between the North and the South may have had outside involvement but needed to work through their issue to figure out who they are.
The United States may gain a bad rap if they do not help: “I suppose we would get a reputation that we don’t appreciate and we’re isolationists again, selfish isolationists.”

Some students gave their opinion on this issue.
Here's Leon's view:




Here's Jack's view:



The United States military’s participation in places like Lybia may not be fully necessary but shows that we care.