By the time you read this, Libya may be rid of its ruler -- a man described as a despot and madman by his friends and even worse by his enemies. A man who, according to some sources, has skimmed $35 billion from the Libyan economy during his regime but forgot to promote himself to a rank higher than colonel.

Go figure.

Meanwhile, officials in the Obama administration, from the president to the secretary of state to the secretary of defense to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been bellowing about what should or should not happen in Libya. And apparently our already-stretched-thin military is preparing to take over another two-bit country -- at my expense, of course. And yours.

Why?

How did I miss that section of the Constitution that says the United States of America has to be the boss of everything? And I mean everything everywhere, not just here at home.

Hasn't the decade of involvement in wars where the definition of "winning" turns cloudier by the day taught us anything?

Every day we see and hear President Obama or Hillary Clinton speaking sternly to the leadership of Libya, as if crackpots really give a damn what they think.

When was the last time you saw any top Chinese official making a daily "Here's what Libya must do" speech for worldwide consumption? Chinese leaders, apparently, realize that they have their hands full keeping their own country afloat without wasting a single minute suggesting how to sink a crackpot's yacht.

I'm not ready to advocate that the U.S. return to its isolationist roots. We are still a powerful and influential nation, and our views should be taken seriously by the world community. But it seems like every time we stick our noses into the affairs of some dictator who loves to wear bizarre costumes, we soon find ourselves in a big mess. And messes don't come cheap these days.

By my calculations we could have paid the medical bills of every uninsured American for the next two decades if we had chosen to appropriate the dollars being spent on foreign wars to health care instead of mayhem that has produced hundreds of funerals featuring crisply folded U.S. flags.

I can't help but think that recent changes we've seen in the American political process will pale by comparison to our future as a warmongering nation. Instead of worrying about pork-barrel spending that sucks up less than 1 percent of our gut-busting budget, we should be deciding how to pay for our military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly Libya.

My suggestion?

Send them the bill.

Let's see if Iraq is willing to pay the billions of dollars it has cost us to create a government ripe for takeover by the next group of religious-bully fanatics. Let's see if the democratically elected government of Afghanistan or the Taliban will pay the most for exclusive rights to a puppet regime. Let's see if the Libyans are willing to use access to the billions of oil revenue to pay for an American-enforced no-fly zone or a possible on-the-ground invasion.

The reality is that giving the U.S. scads of protection money would in no way hurt the average Iraqi, Afghan or Libyan. They don't benefit from whatever it is that the U.S. thinks is so important. Instead of all the moolah going to crazy men and their families and hangers-on, it would go into the U.S. Treasury.

I like the sound of that: You pay, we do your dirty work.

And Americans get a tax break.

What a deal.

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.