This last week saw the situation in Libya intensify as international forces got involved in the mix. Uncharacteristically (to American audiences anyway), France led the way, even firing the first shot as demonstrated here.

Now U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said to Fox News Sunday that a U.S.-backed, U.N.-enforced no-fly zone over Libya is in force. By denying Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi the ability to use airstrikes against the rebels, the U.S., the world, really the forces of good, might be, as Charlie Sheen would put it, winning.

But as these strikes continue, I have to wonder what the overall goal of the operation is. Gadhafi seems to have resigned himself to fighting rather than making like former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and leaving. So at what point should the nations of the world give each other the thumbs-up of victory?

I believe we need to return to the Powell Doctrine, which is a set of guidelines that is supposed to dictate how the United States uses military force in a given scenario. One particular passage he wrote for a piece called “US Forces: The Challenges Ahead” for Foreign Affairs in 1992 states this:

“When the political objective is important, clearly defined and understood, when the risks are acceptable, and when the use of force can be effectively combined with diplomatic and economic policies, then clear and unambiguous objectives must be given to the armed forces. These objectives must be firmly linked with the political objectives. We must not, for example, send military forces into a crisis with an unclear mission they cannot accomplish — such as we did when we sent the U.S. Marines into Lebanon in 1983. We inserted those proud warriors into the middle of a five-faction civil war complete with terrorists, hostage-takers, and a dozen spies in every camp, and said, ‘Gentlemen, be a buffer.’ The results were 241 Marines and Navy personnel and a U.S. withdrawal from the troubled area.”

So when I read stories of how the U.S. is getting involved in Libya (including a story on Salon.com stating that the operation is quickly becoming an entirely American-dominated one), I cannot help but wonder what the endgame is here. Are we seeking to remove Gadhafi altogether, or are we trying to stabilize the country? I can only hope that there are high-level military and civilian officials asking that same question too.