Massimo suggests Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman inadvertently stepped into dovish foreign policy territory and that they’ll soon correct — or overcorrect — the mistake. That’s a credible explanation for the former, whose aides spent the day making hawkish reassurances to The Weekly Standard, among others. I don’t buy it for Huntsman.
libya
Congress Clashes With Another President Over War Powers
The right and the left are taking President Obama to task over his involvement in Libya. House Speaker John Boehner sent the President a letter on Tuesday informing him that as of this weekend, he will be in violation of the War …
White House Offers No Comment, or Denial, On Reports Of CIA Support For Libyan Rebels
Reuters Mark Hosenball reported Wednesday that President Obama has authorized secret CIA support for Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi. The New York Times went further, saying “The Central Intelligence Agency has inserted clandestine operatives into Libya to gather intelligence for military airstrikes and make contacts with rebels …
Muammar Gaddafi, Goldmember
The Washington Post this morning, citing U.S. Treasury officials, reports that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi holds about $6.5 billion in gold in his country.
This made me want to play with a calculator. The current price of gold is about $1,441 an ounce. A gold treasure worth $6.5 billion suggests Gaddafi holds something in the …
Cable News Wars Find New Front In Libya
In Libya, allied forces are fighting Gaddafi loyalists from air and sea. Gaddafi loyalists are fighting rebels on the ground. And CNN and Fox News have begun a vicious battle of their own.
It all began Monday, when Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin announced that a British bombing mission of a Gaddafi compound “had to be cut short …
Early Polling Shows No Democratic Base Retreat Over Libya–Yet
Barack Obama won the Democratic primaries in 2008 largely because of his opposition to George W. Bush’s war of choice in Iraq, which Obama called “a dumb war” from the beginning.
Now that Obama has claimed a war of choice as his own in Libya, President Obama will test his ties to his liberal base, which he will need to turn out …
Military Admits Challenge Of Distinguishing “Civilians” and “Rebels” In Libya
Michael Crowley pointed yesterday to national security adviser Tom Donilon’s struggles to distinguish between “rebels,” who U.S. forces are not supposed to protect in Libya, and a “civilians,” who U.S. forces are charged with protecting. In his comments Tuesday, Donilon seemed at pains to avoid drawing any …
In the ArenaPakistan
Mystified
There is all sorts of premature and overripe commentary about Libya bouncing around the internet (and in print, and on tv). There is talk, but no evidence, of a long war. There is talk, but no evidence, of an ill-defined mission. For all we know, the bombardment of Libya could be over by Wednesday, with the allies settling into a n0-fly …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Correction
A few days ago, I casually–too casually–suggested that a no-fly zone over Libya might not be a bad idea if Muammar Qaddafi started using air power against his people. It’s still possible that a no-fly zone might be a good idea, but the decision deserves a lot more informed consideration than I gave it. As Defense Secretary Robert Gates …
Understanding Muammar Gaddafi’s View Of Obama Through Wikileaks
It has been quite a ride, watching the pop-political entertainment machine try to slice the Arab Spring into easy partisan talking points. Glenn Beck has his democracy-is-bad-for-Muslims, Google-is-pushing-dominos-to-the-caliphate theory. Sarah Palin came forward with a muddled call for more transparency from the White House, followed by …
