There is no overall marching plan.  There hasn't been for decades.  We base our foreign policy on the current political situation and then we change it.

North Africa and the Middle East are a mess.  The countries are artificial.  They were formed through European colonization and are held together only by brutal dictatorship.  When these dictatorships collapse, they fracture along ethnic and tribal lines.

Our problem is that we have to choose our battles, as we can't afford to fight everywhere.  With our ground troops still engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq, and since our European allies seem to be willing to take the lead, Libya seems to be the battle of choice.

I think we hope that Syria and Yemen will sort themselves out, as did Egypt.  In the case if Syria, Israeli intervention may become a factor.

As for Iran, I think we are delaying an inevitable confrontation. 

And if anyone thinks that Pakistan is anything more than an Ally of Convenience, they are deluding themselves...   

I heartily agree with Lil Mike!  Words cannot truly express my admiration for the brave men that participated in this mission.  The fact that there were no US casualties, despite the loss of one of our helicopters, is amazing.

That being said, I was dismayed while listening to the Love Doctors on WPB Real Radio today.  As you may know, that show is an open forum with un-screened calls.  For hours there was a steady stream of Obama-haters and conspiracy nuts.  Their message was mostly the same.  The president is a socialist and a Muslim!  The claim of OBL's death must be a hoax designed to boost Obama's popularity!  Most of these callers refused to stay on the line to discuss the subject.  Those that did all had a similar argument:  a)Obama=Bad, b)OBL dead=Good.  Since "a" is absolute, "b" must be false.  To me, this is an insult to our troops and I hope none of the men who risked their lives in this operation were listening to the show online (The Docs often read emails from our troops).