Will the US Do Nothing in Libya?

March 14, 2011 Arlington VA

It is beginning to look like the US has no intention of doing much more than let Secretary Hillary shoot off her mouth but take no real concrete actions.  We did more against Iraq, and are doing against the Mexican durg lords that we have done to provide concrete assistance to the Libyans opposed to Ghaddafi.  This kind of stance (Common to Democrats) is even weaker than the tepid response of Clinton the adulterer while he was President and Iraq and Afghanistan first came across the horizon.

We are quickly looking like fools in the world space and it really needs to stop.

Mark Thompson of TIme Magazine, in the current issue of his blog, reports, "Many of war's most important combat elements -- like time and momentum -- don't show up in order-of-battle calculations. That's why the international dithering over launching a no-fly zone over Libya is now all but OBE -- overcome by events -- even as France and the Arab League call for one. The U.N.  began discussing the topic in earnest on Monday, even as Muammar Gaddafi's warplanes continued to pound rebel positions.

Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2011/03/14/too-late-for-a-libyan-no-fly-zone/#ixzz1Gb08UWoN

 

Politico is reporting, "Hillary Clinton arrived in Paris on Monday, starting a week of efforts by the secretary of state to demonstrate U.S. support for pro-democracy forces in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.

While in Paris, Clinton is set to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other European officials to discuss the instability in Libya as leader Muammar Qadhafi’s supporters regain some of their lost territory in the battle there. Sarkozy’s government was the first to recognize an anti-Qadhafi interim governing council as Libya’s legitimate government, a move the United States is considering.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51229.html#ixzz1Gb1KBgDu

 

Now, it is true that Obama has a lot on his plate right now, with the major budget battles looming (with a decidedly unfriendly House, and a mixed-bag Senate where even his own party often leaves him hanging), along with the situations in Libya and Japan, but then, that's what he gets the big bucks to do.  he needs to make decisions that are not slippery and indecisive, but more focused on actual solutions and well-thought out actions.

Michael Falcone, on the ABC News Website, says today, "As the budget deal-making continues in Washington this week, the White House is facing growing pressure on a different front: how tough to get with Libya. Over the weekend, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded to the Arab League’s endorsement of a no-fly zone over Libya without specifically addressing whether the Obama administration would support it."

“We welcome this important step by the Arab League, which strengthens the international pressure on Gadhafi and support Libyan people,” Carney said. “The international community is unified in sending a clear message that the violence in Libya must stop and that the Gadhafi regime must be held accountable.”

"But how far will the White House go and when? Libya is fast becoming a situation with profound political consequences here at home, as ABC’s Jonathan Karl noted on “This Week”: “If Gadhafi is still in power next year, if Libya is still a mess, this will be a central issue for Republicans. They will say this is Exhibit A of what happens when you have a foreign policy where America does not show leadership. You're already seeing it with some on the Hill saying, look, the French are leading on this. Where is America?” (More from yesterday’s “This Week” roundtable:"

The more we talk (The administration that is), and the less we do, the more Ghaddafi is reinforced, and the opposition will be crushed over time with that swcar on our collective backs.  The US is already hated by most of the Middle East, and we are adding country after country as we practive 'diplomacy' in that area.

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