The most important content of presidential speeches is often what they don't say. Here are some things that President Obama didn't say about Libya in his speech Monday night.
The president did not answer his critics who asked why he took America into war without authorization by Congress. This question was made sharper on Sunday when Jake Tapper of ABC asked Defense Secretary Gates,
"Do you think Libya posed an actual or imminent threat to the United States?"
"No, no," was Gates' reply. "It was not -- it was not a vital national interest to the United States, but it was an interest and it was an interest for all of the reasons Secretary Clinton talked about."
The significance of Tapper's question was that Tapper used the exact language that Obama used as a candidate for president in describing the limits of the authority of the president under the Constitution to initiate hostilities without Congressional authorization:
"The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."
Apparently Defense Secretary Gates does not think that the situation in Libya met the standard that candidate Obama set in December 2007 for acting without congressional authorization.
But in President's Obama's speech, the word "Congress" was only mentioned once: The president says he ordered military action "after consulting the bipartisan leadership of Congress." Of course, a meeting with congressional leaders is not at all the same thing as congressional debate and authorization. Congressional debate and authorization allows the public to have a say through their representatives. A meeting with congressional leaders does not. This military operation was planned for weeks and discussed with other countries for weeks; there was plenty of time to seek congressional approval.
The president did not in his speech clarify what the exit strategy is.
He told us "the lead" will "transition to our allies and partners." But the US is the lead country in NATO, which is taking responsibility for the military operation. As long as NATO is fighting in Libya, the U.S. is fighting in Libya, and U.S. taxpayers are paying for it. Others will be paying too, but the consolation of knowing that others will be sharing your burden is decreased substantially if no one will tell you how big the burden will be.
Nor did the president clarify what the true military objective is. The president said, "our military mission is narrowly focused on saving lives."
But as the New York Times reports, "Even as President Obama on Monday described a narrower role for the United States in a NATO-led operation," the U.S. military has been carrying out an "expansive and increasingly potent air campaign," amounting to "an all-out assault on Libya's military."
According to the Times, the real military mission is this:
The strategy for White House officials nervous that the Libya operation could drag on for weeks or months, even under a NATO banner, is to hit Libyan forces hard enough to force them to oust Colonel Qaddafi, a result that Mr. Obama has openly encouraged.
According to the Times, the U.S. has established a military strategy of removing Gaddafi from power indirectly: Keep killing Libyan soldiers until they demand that Gaddafi leave.
The administration says this is not going beyond what was approved by the UN Security Council. But that doesn't pass the laugh test. The UN Security Council never approved a military mission to overthrow the Libyan government.
Now that removal of Gaddafi has apparently been established as a U.S. military objective, suppose that the current means of achieving this military objective -- keep killing Libyan soldiers until they demand that Gaddafi leave -- fails to achieve it. Which is more likely, in the absence of an external constraint: that the U.S. will abandon this military objective, or that the U.S. will pursue more aggressive military means to achieve it?
This is why Congress should pass legislation now limiting the scope of the U.S. military operation in Libya, whether by prohibiting the introduction of ground troops, or by establishing a timetable or financial cap beyond which the administration will have to seek explicit congressional authorization. In the absence of congressional action, if we get to a point where the administration concedes that achievement of its military objective would require further military escalation, it may be too late politically to stop that escalation.
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This is the US/NATO/UN strategy accurately distilled to 10 words.
Arab opinion is adamantly against Western bases and involvement in their region. Except when they want Westerners to fight their proxy wars for them.
But Arab League ( predictably) betrayed their deal with Western countries
Despite promises to the contrary. Arab politicians began playing up the Infidel angle to the Arab street within days of the attack!
It is clearly a war now. since attacks have escalated to killing of loyalist ground troops.
The elimination of air-superiority which was promised earlier now clearly abandoned.
What's next, ground troops involvement in a civil war?
Why is no one saying that Iraq and Afghanistan are still on-going with the same questions (money and Libya everyone who had these same questions) regarding both of those are not answered and the republicans are not going to answer those, not only because they can't, but they don't know! They never knew because they didn't know from the beginning. They didn't care because Bush ll ordered it. (actually, Cheney.) But now, much of what we hear is regime change. But that is only so they can say; and, SO they can point to their goals, and how they gained the overwhelming love of the American people for what was right of what they'd done in Iraq and Afghanistan.
UN, Arab league. Obama is giving military support to the mostly EU effort and US will not lead the action. It is up to the Libyans, not American president, to decide how far they want to go.
And Obama convinced you that he is telling the truth, unlike GWB? It seems neither his Secretary of State nor his Secretary of Defense believe his words.
This is a dysfunctional Administration that is falling apart as we speak. And yet you trust the President? maybe he could use you in his Cabinet- you would be the only one able to trust him.
When we invaded Iraq, the Arab world protested loudly. When we sent our aid to the Libyan resistance, the Arab world applauded us loudly. Why? Perhaps they were able to recognize the difference between one people's genuine concern for the well being of another people, and the hypocrisy of the myths that a previous administration's war machine fed off of. Does any of this mean anything to you, or would you still walk on by, perhaps crossing over to the other side of the street to let the madman does his little throat-slitting-thing?
From up upon the podium in tailored suit and tie,
Between the flags of freedom crossed, and in the public eye,
The Harvard man made his address to critics, in reply,
And laid out for the audience his modern battle cry.
Recall that other Harvard man, who at the San Juan Hill,
Did call ‘Rough Riders, follow me!’ and led the charge until
The foot soldiers and cavalry were summoned by his will,
And overcame the enemy with valor and with skill.
Not for our modern Crimson man do words like those resound,
For in their stark grave melody is heroism found.
Instead we hear of diplomats who finally come around,
And handing off the fighting with no boots upon the ground.
So rally ’round the UN flag: we fight for powder blue!
Leave well behind the stars and stripes, and patriotic hue.
We’ll fight for days or weeks for sure, and then we’ll say adieu,
And hope our allies have resolve and heart to follow through.
thebardofmurdock.com