Although President Barack Obama has publicly denied that the U.S. will provide ground troops to Libya, it appears that the CIA has begun covert operations to push back forces still loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. However the details of those operations are still murky and the question of whether supporting the Libyan rebels could come back to haunt the U.S. and coalition forces seems to be on the minds of leaders from both sides of the Atlantic. Will the arms fall into the hands of the wrong people? Should we fear an al-Qaida presence among the rebels? Jason Burke is the South Asia correspondent for The Guardian and author of “Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow on Terror.” Burke shares some of the outcomes of previous attempts by the U.S. to to fund international rebel armies.
We also speak to Dean Baker, assistant professor of philosophy at the United States Naval Academy, who makes the case for providing covert arms and military training as an extension of U.S. foreign policy.
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