When they say that the UN has unanimously decided to enter a humanitarian mission in Libya, they mean that most of the security council has voted to pick a side in a war and a couple of them—Russia and China—are wearing really stern faces about the whole thing.

When they say that the United States is taking a back seat in the effort, they mean that the United States wrote the UN resolution, is coordinating the allied effort, and has so far done most of the exploding.

When they say that France is leading the operation, they mean that the United States let France shoot first because, apparently, France is kind of sensitive about the things people say about them on the Internet and are willing to risk their pilots over uncontrolled airspace to make the point that they’re super tough.

When they say that Canada is supporting the coalition, they literally just mean that Canada supports what the countries with airplanes are doing.

When they say that this is going to take two days, they mean that they have absolutely no fucking idea how long it will take, but that everyone will probably be dealing with this bullshit for fifty years like every other goddamn war.