Bombs are dropping, missiles are seeking their targets, the no fly zone is in place, and the inevitable casualties begin to be counted ("U.S., allies hammer Libya" March 20).

If the U.S. were to defeat Col. Moammar Gadhafi, it doesn't necessarily follow that Libya would emerge as a representative democracy.

Is Libya going to be a "cake walk," as the George W. Bush Administration assured us about Iraq, or will it grind on as has the Iraq occupation, and the 10 years of war in Afghanistan?

So easy to get in, so nearly impossible to get out.

How will U.S. troops be able to fight effectively when they are currently involved in two wars — Iraq and Afghanistan?

The air strikes on Libya will fan the flames of war, creating a mounting desire for retribution — that will increase a volatile, powder keg situation, that has continued for thousands of years in the Middle East.

And, we deserve to ask, who are the rebels? What are their demands? Do they coincide with the aspirations of the U.S.?

The U.S. is concerned about the mistreatment of the Libyans by their government. This is an understandable but selective, selective concern, as the Yemen government, by the way a friend of the U.S., had snipers kill 42 protestors — while the US Government looked the other way.

U.S. intelligence and international police would be far more effective in capturing Mr. Gadhafi than a heavy-handed military assault.

U.S. troops would do better focusing on how best to assist the Japanese.

Lee Lears, Annapolis