When Arab public opinion has any influence on policy, the US and Britain have been tossed out of the Middle East. That's why they are terrified of democracies in the region.

Obama's troop withdrawals only mark a continuing war and occupation that is wasteful and deadly, with no end to America's 'war on terror' in sight.

George Osborne said it would cost tens, not hundreds of millions. Now the defence minister Liam Fox has had tell the truth. The war in Libya in just over two months has cost Britain £260 million.

Still occupying Iraq, engaged in the bombing of Libya, and continuing with the war in Afghanistan, the US and its allies look increasingly bogged down, unable to break the war habit -- and not knowing what to do about it.

Libya was going to be different from all previous wars. Strikes would be 'targeted', 'collateral damage' would be negligible, and of course, just as the British government said in 1914, the war would be so swift that it would all be over in a couple of months.

"It is time to listen to military advice, review the review and provide our forces with capabilities which match our foreign policy ambitions.” - Jim Murphy Shadow defence secretary