You said, "Should we have not prevented Gaddafi from massacring thousands because oil interests played a role in the decision?"

What if the U.S. massacred thousands or hired "rebels" to start the civil war in Libya to massacre thousands? Wars are filled with spies, as we have seen in WWI and WWII, and the U.S. has created problems on myriad occasions in the past [scientific intelligence studies based on skull size, "War on Drugs," industrial prison complex] for us to be able to infer the likelihood that the US creates war. Understanding this casting will lead to liberation.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread691464/pg1 [Gaddafi is not deliberately trying to kill civilians]

Gaddafi was not perfect, but the U.S. has sanctioned the killing or eradication of exponentially more people than he ever did. Plus, for instance, he gave several benefits to people, some of the U.S. would never think of doing...

1. All the newly weds people of Libya used to get about 50,000 dollars from Government to lead a very happy life.

2. Home is the basic right of every citizen of Libya.

3. There was no electricity bill in Libiya. Electricity was free in Libya.

4. No interest loan for the people of Libya according to Law. Gaddafi was against interest since interest is forbidden in Islam.

5. Gaddafi has increased the literacy rate from 25% to 83%. Education expenses in Government universities are free in Libya.

6. Medical expenses in Government hospitals was free in Libya.

7. The price of the patrol was 0.14 cents in Libya. Yes we all know Libya has got good petroleum resources. But the price seems to be too low. Isn't it?

8. When Libyan citizen wants to buy a car, Government used to subsidized 50% of the price of the car. 50%? sounds great!

9. A huge bread used to cost only 15 cents in Libya.

10. The GDP per capita of Libya is very high. Over 15,000 us dollars. Purchasing power was very high compare to the GDP.

11. The economy of Libya was improving rapidly. In 2010 it had 10% growth. It has not external debts. It also has the reserves amount of 150+ billion dollars.

12. Unemployment fees were given from the government until the person finds a Job.

13. A Libyan mother used to get 5000 us dollars for giving birth a child.

You say that it's complex, but that's indeed the irony. It appears complex, but to the people, groups, or countries casting these dramatizations, it actually is rather simple.

The U.S. does whatever is necessarily for its own self-interest, especially in foreign policy, while convincing citizens that it has "their best interests at heart." People are conditioned to develop the worldview/identity of the U.S., and thus never learn to think for themselves or question the facts/consider that what the media has taught them may not be true.

Daniel, there are some notions of universal justice that should not be disputed (e.g. slavery). They still may be, such as when people in class didn't agree with the ending of slavery through self-defense unless "government" sanctioned, but this thought process does not give true credence of what it means to love one another. It is not right what the U.S. has done to people in this country or abroad. Not that every single practice was wrong, but we cannot continue to let frequent casting/dramatizations cause massive killings/dumbing down of society without understanding what is being done and having the courage to do something about it. I don't claim to know everything, and I know people disagree, but is important to fight for the correct facts and then understand why there are some universal truths that we cannot "afford" to not stand up for.