Opposition to the Libyan intervention among the American public

Abstract

Using submissions to internet fora as data, this essay explores arguments members of the American public used to oppose the US intervention in Libya. Beyond revealing the various types of oppositional arguments that were employed, examination of these arguments suggests reasons, in addition to institutional obstacles, why the opposition may have had little effect on the federal government`s decisions to engage in this and similar interventions. Those additional explanatory factors are the fragmentary nature of the opposition and the deployment of non-mainstream arguments that allow political figures to ignore the opposition as politically marginal.