To the shores of Tripoli

I had almost forgotten that Qadaffi even existed, with the threat from Libya having not appeared since Libyan terrorists shot at Marty McFly in Back to the Future. Indeed, the Libyans are kind of an ankle-biting enemy that the US comes up against every now and then. Fortunately for us, soundly routing the Libyans every century or so is a wonderful American tradition that provides us with endless amusement.

After all, the first overseas victory of the US military was won by the Marine Corps, after their defeat of the Barbary Pirates on the "shores of Tripoli" in Libya, an act enshrined in the Marine Corps Hymn. Over a century later, US Navy F-14s patrolling in the International Waters in the Gulf of Sidra (Gulf of Sidra One, Gulf of Sidra Two) encountered Libyan MiG-23s Floggers and Su-22 Fitters, promptly shooting them down in aerial dogfights. The lopsided victories over the Libyan fighters in both of these encounters served as the basis for the movie "Top Gun"—a movie which has inspired a generation of military pilots in the US.

Today, bombing Libya isn't worth the price of a GPS-guided bomb, so we have to make do with just endlessly ridiculing Qadaffi's insane rants and ludicrous clothing. Ah, the good old days…