other answers earlier i spoke with a man who knows what things look like from the front lines nathan sassaman was a former commander of ground troops in iraq he told me what some of the key differences are between iraq and libya and why he thinks entering libya was a mistake. well there were in the bridge of the withdrawal failure period in iraq and you know we have to be out of there by twenty eleven and there's going to be a cause and effect that goes along with that withdrawal and on the flip side i think in libya just from my personal knowledge from two thousand and three two thousand and four there's going to be a period of time are you trying to figure out you know who's in charge who's really genuine who's really interested in the goals of the future of libya and then who is really corrupt and out for selfish gain. and you're not going to gain that from bombing them twenty thousand feet above the air or last you're going to only gain that from from boots on the ground and and frankly there's not enough out there right now to justify sending american sons and daughters into into harm's

nathan sassaman author and the former troop commander in iraq says there's no way that states or anyone else can predict the consequences of supporting rebels in libya there is going to be a period of time really trying to figure out you know who is in charge who's really genuine who's really interested in the goals of the future of libya and then who is really corrupt and out for selfish gain and you're not going to gain that from bombing them twenty thousand feet above the air or less you're going to only gain that from from boots on the ground the american people are not stupid and i do you would be just really it would be really good for for our government and our leaders to just come out and say we want the leader of libya out of power whether he's captured whether he's killed whether he's sent into exile but that's really what we want we want a regime change and we're entering a revolution that we know very little about and we don't know and be careful what comes out on the other end and be prepared to take a secular tyranny or the religious tyranny that might evolve into from thi

that is the debate congress is going to have to take on in the coming days and weeks that was nathan sassaman retired united states army officer and author of the warrior king the triumph and betrayal of an american called commander in iraq. the thing with libya the west has formally handed control over to nato today but america is that to remain heavily involved by continuing to invest millions into the operation or one argues on associates are going to look at the real toll of all the wars the us is fighting. the u.s. has cultivated and and valuable events with which it invades nations or one or two or three locations change the list of enemies grows and habit becomes harder to shake even as the costs of military spending casualties and the steve world image what is the real toll of america's wars in iraq afghanistan and libya the three currency was a battlefield let's take a look at what they cost five and a half thousand people that's the official american death toll in iraq and afghanistan another seventy thousand the estimated number of injured u.s. soldiers. while some one hundred seve

out who will be next i really appreciate your insight and i your experience weighing in on this nathan sassaman retired united states army officer and also the author of the warrior king the triumph and betrayal of an american commander in iraq. well from obama to nato to the un all of serco were in libya to protect libyan civilians from massacre by colonel gadhafi forces but more than merely two weeks into the bombings of libya some are asking how humanitarian this intervention is artie's killing board has more on the debate over the responsibility to protect. when it comes to receiving international help. not all countries are created equal. the u.s. and nato are in libya under the doctrine of responsibility to protect responsibly to protect was born out of the failure to respond and rwanda and the failure to respond to holocaust genocides around the world created by the praised by advisers close to president obama are to peak states that sovereignty is a privilege not a right you have a responsibility as a sovereign country to not massacre other peoples and that the international community c