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Somehow The Possible Success In Libya Is Bad For The GOP
23 Aug 2011 8:32 am William Teach

It’s an interesting dichotomy: there was bipartisan condemnation against the actions against Libya, for a multitude of reasons, such as wondering why we were getting involved when it had no national security implications, that it seemed to be a means to keep oil flowing into France and Britain from Libya, and Obama’s failure to consult with Congress and get some sort of resolution, among others. Interestingly, the same media which was quite often talking about war against Libya, er, excuse me, kinetic military actions, as being a Bad Thing and …

Killing Gaddafi Isn’t The End, It’s Just The End Of The Beginning
23 Aug 2011 6:02 am John Hawkins

But here’s what (Obama) may not have taken into consideration: The perception trap.
We’re involved in Libya and Obama will ultimately be judged not just around the world, but here in the United States, on how it turns out.
So, despite the fact that the best thing Obama could do at this point would be to just get the hell out of there, it won’t be so easy. That’s because if let’s say, the coalition falls apart, Obama will be blamed. If Gadaffi stays in power, Obama will be blamed. If Gadaffi …

R2P Or Not 2P
5 Aug 2011 12:52 pm Courtney Messerschmidt

Totally tweetable!
New Millennium’s doctrinairish Responsibility To Protect in statecraft moderne can sweetly be – uh – shrunk – to like 3 characters. Perfect for policy cats au courant and future to drop like a mind bomb in nearly any environ!
See, a new school concept of the state maintains that states have a primary Responsibility 2 Protect their own people from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity. An internat’l commitment by govs to prevent and react to crises wherever they may occur. Recog’d partially by UN as …

What “Our Side” Is Doing In Libya: 7 Year Old Libyan Rebels
14 Jul 2011 5:05 am John Hawkins

Isn’t it great to be on the same side as Al-Qaeda in Libya, fighting for…something or another — it’s hard to say what exactly. The general excuse was supposed to be that we were helping to protect “civilians.” Course, if the “civilians” happen to be small children, our rebel allies are apparently conscripting them and putting guns in their hands.

Incoming!
1 Jul 2011 6:46 pm Courtney Messerschmidt

Make your brain more bigger with hot deets, big phased cookies and intell dossiers from the cool kids @ Foreign Policy Initiatives
Libya

Rebels in Libya’s western Nafusa mountain range were less than 50 miles from the nation’s capital Thursday and edging closer to their first significant victory outside their mountain stronghold, pounding the small town of Bir Ghanam with artillery and rockets. – Los Angeles Times
In the last week, hundreds of families fleeing Tripoli have arrived at a rebel checkpoint here in the middle of a winding …

It’s Time To Put An End To Our Libyan Misadventure
22 Jun 2011 3:39 am John Hawkins

Obama never made a real effort to sell the Libyan war to the American people or even to explain why we’re there at all. Since that inauspicious start, Obama has refused to get approval from Congress and has badly bungled the war effort. In other words, we’re mired in a poorly conceived effort, that has nothing to do with our national interest, and minimal public support, for reasons no one seems to understand.
Moreover, sure Gaddafi is a monster, but there’s no reason to think that the rebels would implement …

Sirens Of Isolationism
21 Jun 2011 9:44 am Courtney Messerschmidt

“O Tay Mr Peabody! Set the dial on the Way Back Machine to 1911!”
Prob the best descrip of the recent GOP Debatery that CNN King Grunting Guy kept grunting through (yeah – it was kinda gross)
“…Mitt Romney sounded not so terribly different from Obama on Afghanistan, with the crucial difference that he wants out faster. Michele Bachmann and virtually all of them thundered that we had no need to be involved in Libya, least of all by playing second fiddle to France (a …

Obama Bombs Bombing Libya
15 Jun 2011 2:43 pm Rachel Alexander

Obama has bungled hawkish military action in Libya so badly that even Republicans now appear to be opposing military engagement. While many people have doubts about intervening in the “Arab spring” uprisings sweeping the Middle East, there are a couple of despotic tyrants that most Americans agree must be removed. Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi is one of them. It would not have been difficult for Obama to have obtained the support of Congress to take military action complying with the War Powers resolution of 1973, because Republicans usually vote hawkish on …

Libyan Box
15 Jun 2011 11:00 am Courtney Messerschmidt

War Powers!
“44 has not sought, and Congress has not provided, authorization for the introduction or continued involvement of Great Satan’s Armed Forces in Libya. Congress has the constitutional prerogative to withhold funding for any unauthorized use of Great Satan’s Armed Forces, including for unauthorized chicanery regarding Libya.”
Whee! So what? 44′s predecessors have sweetly ignored the War Powers Act ever since it’s big debut way back in the Before Time (1973 for the Xians).
L”Stache Grand:
“Rightly so, given the statute’s manifest unconstitutionality. Undoubtedly, 44’s approach in Libya has …

I Agree With Dennis Kucinich On Libya?
1 Jun 2011 5:34 pm John Hawkins

Although some people disagree, I think the President does have the right to engage in a mission like Libya without getting Congressional approval first. I also think the “War Powers” Act is dubiously constitutional.
That being said, the President does have a Constitutional obligation to get approval from Congress before going to “war.” He also has a moral obligation to get the support of Congress on missions like Libya. Sure, he might be able to make the argument that the situation demanded he act immediately, but there’s certainly no legitimate argument …

Never Saw This Coming: Goals Shift In Libya Kinetic Operation
28 May 2011 7:09 am William Teach

I don’t think anyone saw this coming at all. It should be a complete and utter shock to everyone out there, right?
President Obama has subtly shifted Washington’s public explanation of its goals in Libya, declaring now that he wants to assure the Libyan people are “finally free of 40 years of tyranny” at the hands of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, after first stating he wanted to protect civilians from massacres.
Yes, the NY Times is calling Obama out for his BS.
But, no worries, Obama is on the case
But if toppling Colonel Qaddafi …

Is Cynthia McKinney Committing Treason?
23 May 2011 3:01 am John Hawkins

Is this hang-by-the-neck until dead treasonous? If not, it’s awfully close to the line.
A former U.S. congresswoman slammed U.S. policy on Libyan state TV late Saturday and stressed the “last thing we need to do is spend money on death, destruction and war.”
The station is fiercely loyal to Moammar Gadhafi and her interview was spliced with what appeared to be rallies in support of the embattled Libyan leader.
“I think that it’s very important that people understand what is happening here. And it’s important that people all over the world see …

Mission Creep In Libya: It Has Begun
8 Apr 2011 4:59 am John Hawkins

One of the problems with getting involved in a country militarily is that the whole business has a tendency to take on a life of its own, one that you don�t always expect, particularly if it�s not clearly defined. Welcome to mission creep, boys and girls.
…This time around, Obama has bungled the whole thing worse than most people realize by having such an open-ended mission. Not even the people in the coalition, which is already fracturing, seem to be agreed on why we�re there. Are we there to protect civilians? …

Lefty Journalist Doubts Libyan Woman’s Gang Rape Allegations
7 Apr 2011 9:56 pm Jenn Q. Public

Cross-posted from NewsReal�s That�s What She Said blog. Please follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our feed!

Yet again, an oh-so-enlightened left-winger tries to discredit politically inconvenient rape allegations.
By now you’ve heard the story of Iman al-Obeidi, the Libyan woman who was dragged off to prison after telling reporters of the vicious gang rape she suffered at the hands of Qaddafi’s men. Well, according to frequent HuffPo contributor and professional Bush Derangement Syndrome fomenter Russ Baker, that’s just what they want you …

First as Tragedy, Second as Farce
4 Apr 2011 3:05 pm Dave Blount

As liberals took unseemly pleasure in reminding us after 9/11, we supported the Islamic militants who went on to wage a terror war against us when they were fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. But back in the 1980s, we didn’t know these people were our mortal enemies. Now even the State Department knows it. Yet we read this:
DARNA, Libya — Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city’s military campaign, training new recruits for the front and to …

The Good News & The Bad News: Libya Rebels Just Learning How To Use Their Guns
4 Apr 2011 8:03 am John Hawkins

On the one hand, our new allies in Libya are, how can I put this delicately, a wee bit inexperienced.
Bernwi, the exterminator, said his father practically ordered him to the front. He bought a Kalashnikov and found a military uniform abandoned by one of Kadafi’s militiamen. He had never owned a gun or fatigues.
…At another checkpoint, Cherkasi was toying with his newly issued rifle. He said the Kadafi regime denied guns to many riot cops in eastern Libya because the strongman didn’t trust anyone in the rebellious region.
Cherkasi defected in …

We May Soon Be Bombing Both Sides in Libya
1 Apr 2011 2:02 pm Dave Blount

We may have an explanation for Comrade Obama’s inscrutable behavior in Libya. There’s no need to envision a complex, SPECTRE-esque international conspiracy of the sort Glenn Beck is often on the verge of revealing, when our foreign policy is better explained by a single word: incompetence.
As NATO takes over control of airstrikes in Libya, and the Obama administration considers new steps to tip the balance of power there, the coalition has told the rebels that if they endanger civilians, they will not be shielded from possible bombardment by NATO planes …

Fighting Gaddafi To Help Al-Qaeda?
25 Mar 2011 7:36 pm John Hawkins

Who would have ever thought that less than 10 years after 9/11, an American President would be using our military to help Al-Qaeda fighters gain power in another nation. Yet, that’s exactly what’s going on in Libya today,
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited “around 25″ men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are “today are on the front lines in Adjabiya”.
Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters …

The Long Term Consequences Of Bombing Libya For Obama: The Perception Trap
23 Mar 2011 6:50 pm John Hawkins

One of the problems with getting involved in a country militarily is that the whole business has a tendency to take on a life of its own, one that you don’t always expect, particularly if it’s not clearly defined. Welcome to mission creep, boys and girls.
For example, when Reagan bombed Libya, we knew exactly what we were doing and why we were there. Libyan agents bombed a night club in Berlin frequented by American soldiers. Reagan hit Libya as payback. We knew exactly why we hit Libya and there was …

Obama finds the truth offensive

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