NATO didnt really do it for ''humantarian'' help lol, they just wanted to have the oil
Ironically, by the time Gaddafi fell he had far better relations with the west and oil deals were opening up anyway. From a strictly oil point of view, it would have been better to have left him in power.
I think the rebellion took everyone by surprise including the west. Although they wouldn't have sought it at that point, and if anything it was counterproductive to their economic interests, the west felt obliged to support the rebels against a manifest dictator whom they had condemned for decades.
Also, I think they (correctly) calculated that his time was up, just as they have done with Mubarack and Assad.
Its not that really, they want to prevent the hardcore weapons falling into the hands of the 'islamists'.
Yes - again, they say this explicitly! For the west these are very tricky situations. If they do nothing, or if they do something, either way it could end up hurting them. It's pretty much guesswork.
The main complicating factor for the west is the extreme anti-western sentiment across so much of the Muslim world (as exhibited here also) which means that whatever course of action they take will always be condemned as the worst, even if it's what everyone was asking for beforehand.
For this reason i personally think the west should disengage entirely from the whole middle east region and do nothing for any side, except for its declared allies. More like a Chinese approach. The real divisions are within the Muslim world and the only thing that can unite them right now is hatred of the west. So, the west needs to stop being stupid enough to play that role.
China is following a wholly selfish foreign policy, doesn't care how nasty the regimes it deals with are, benefits as much from the free trade that the west fights for, yet doesn't have to get involved and never gets blamed for anything. I'd call that a very successful policy.