The latest Weekly Standard opens with a remarkable editorial on Libya, offering some of the kindest words about the Obama administration you’ll ever read in the conservative media. It’s true that the Robert Kagan piece casts the fall of the Gaddafi regime as a triumph for “the United States and NATO.” And it isn’t until its seventh …
libya
A Notable Exception to the Proliferation of GOP Noninterventionists
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucgo-cF9vZ4]
Mark Benjamin notes that it’s not just Jon Huntsman who is fatigued with Afghanistan and wary of Libya:
On Libya, a Split in Congress Means an Obama Win
The Obama administration continues its effort to outmaneuver Congress on the ongoing mission in Libya this week. On Tuesday afternoon the Senate will hold a cloture vote on the bill approved last week 14-5 by the Foreign Relations committee. It’s a narrow bill that authorizes Obama’s Libya war for a year.
Administration and …
Did Obama Win on War Powers?
In his press conference on Wednesday, President Obama tried to embarrass Congressional opponents of the military mission in Libya for making it a “cause celebre.” And in some ways he has emerged the victor in his confrontation with Congress over the War Powers Resolution. Last Friday, the GOP-led House failed to pass a bill that would …
Harold Koh, ‘Hypocrite’?
Shortly after Yale Law professor Harold Koh was named the State Department’s top lawyer, a source sent me a snickering note noting that Koh had deemed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq illegal, and that therefore by Koh’s definition his new boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had potentially supported a massive war crime. Koh had also …
Huntsman Goes from ‘Wobbly’ to Anti-War
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.
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.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhpKmQCCwB8&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0%5D
Now that Obama has claimed a war of choice as his own in Libya, President Obama …
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 …