Obrevity, Please

Roger Cohen reluctantly supports the Libyan intervention reluctantly ordered by President Obama but describes the clear and present dangers in the shifting sands:

There was an Allied offensive during the North African campaign called “Operation Brevity.” It had mixed results, but I’d borrow the name. Speed in ousting Qaddafi, the objective from which Western leaders cannot retreat, is essential. We all know what happens if this Mad Max war festers: The coalition fractures, jihadists seep into a failed state of porous borders, mission creep begins.