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Before going to war with Iraq, President Bush sought and received Congressional authorization to do so -- ditto for Afghanistan. Before going to war with Libya, Obama did not even consult with Congress, much less seek (or receive) their approval.
(a long time US Foreign Service Officer):
“Does Obama consult with the US Congress? Bush did that, remember? Does he ask Congress for an expression of support for the use of military power? Bush, did that, and we still hear from the left that he got insufficient authorization. No. Obama and Clinton get permission from the UN, the EU, and the Arab League instead. I guess when you're a liberal, that's all that counts. No need to bother with the Congress or in making a case to the American people.
So, now we are in a war with no clear objective: Is it to establish a ‘No Fly Zone,’ or get Qaddafi out? What if we get a NFZ, which our military will establish quickly, but Qaddafi doesn't go or continues his war without aircraft? What then? Are we on the hook to protect Libyans from Libyans? How long before the pictures of dead and dying Libyans, supposedly killed by our missiles and bombs, have the UN, the Euros, and the Arab League backing out? Guess who will get left holding the bag of sand?”
Excuse me…
Where the HELL is our national security interest in Libya?
The DiploMad has a thought on that.
Click here and here to recall our national security interest in Iraq.
2 comments:
For a lot of different reasons voters saw what they wanted to see in Obama. In some very real respects he’s no different than Bush on foreign policy. That said ultimately the fault lies with the American people. Something is wrong with the system if no matter who you vote for, you get war. Wonder if Obama feels that he has to overcompensate to show that he’s not “Palin’ around with terrorists”. This action against Libya is truly hypocritical and disgusting, especially when you consider what the ruler of Yemen just did.
Atlanta Roofing,
Thanks for your thoughts.
From my perspective, I don’t fault Bush for his foreign policy -- the last two links in the main body of the post document why. Of all the bald faced lies ever foisted upon us by media malpractice, the lies and distortions about the Iraq war take the cake.
IMO, we should only go to war to support our national security interests or the national security interests of our allies. The media have suggested that France (ostensibly, our ally) gets much of their oil from Libya. And yet, according to the EIA, in 2009, France only imported 6% of their oil from Libya.
IMO, ostensibly protecting 6% of the oil imports to France is not sufficient justification. Furthermore, I see no evidence what-so-ever that this war will -- in any way -- protect that oil flow to France.
IMO, this is nothing but a pack of so-called “Progressives”, risking everything DiploMad noted in an earlier post so that they can pretend they did some humanitarian good.
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