Americans do poorly on world geography questions and I am no different.

Just this week, I read stories about armies from Saudi Arabia in Bahrain, violence in Dafur (part of Sudan), and the US lead no-fly zone in Libya.

I had to go look for Libya on a map, which if you are curious, is just to the east of Sudan on the continent of Africa.

Which made me curious, because President Obama said that violence by the government was the reason for the U.S. attacks in Libya.

That is, violence by a government against its own civilians.

That must be a new standard for international affairs, because violence by the government or at least actions sanctioned by the government has been occurring for years in Dafur (part of Sudan). And Dafur is literally next door to Libya.

It could be that President Obama doesn't know where Dafur is located and so didn't know where to send the U.S. military to intervene.

It could be that the people of Dafur didn't know you are supposed to mill about with signs calling for democratic elections to attract U.S. military intervention.

It could be that Republicans and their newspapers aren't calling for military intervention in Dafur.

That is the guiding principle isn't violence of a government against its own people, witness the invasion of Bahrain by the Saudi Arabian army, but whether Republicans and their surrogates want to see the U.S. military in action.

The military, already fighting two mis-begotten Republican wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, is trying to avoid being deeply involved in yet a third Republican war.

Let's put an end to Republican military adventures overseas.
All of them.

They are a waste of time, effort and a major waste of our most precious resource, our youth.

Covington resident Patrick Durusau's column appears on Fridays.