Oil.

Editor,

"Libya holds around 44 billion barrels of oil reserves, the largest in Africa ... After Libya with 44.3 billion barrels of estimated oil reserves in Africa, Nigeria comes next with about 37.2 billion barrels ... " according to this analysis:

http://newspapersafrica.com/morenews.php?table=business&id=1418

In the name of "stability" the US has propped up murderous dictatorships in the Arab world for the last 40 years. Torture, murder, oppression, and human misery do not mean anything next to the oil our economy runs on.

So I find it hard to believe that massacres matter more than "stability" in Libya, which just happens to have the largest -- and sweetest -- oil reserves in Africa.

Re: "Washington’s Options on Libya" (3/9/2011)