The Other McCain

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Libya: ‘Obama’s Worst Failure to Date’

Posted on | April 8, 2011 | 6 Comments

That’s the subject of my latest American Spectator column:

Scarcely three weeks after the U.S. military launched Operation Odyssey Dawn, the war in Libya is beginning to look like President Obama’s worst failure to date. While official Washington and the political press have been focused on budget negotiations and the prospect of a federal government shutdown, a foreign-policy disaster has been slowly unfolding in the deserts of the North African nation that Col. Moammar Gaddafi has ruled for more than four decades.
It was more than a month ago, during a March 3 press conference, that Obama declared his intent to “send a clear message: the violence must stop; Muammar Gaddafi has lost the legitimacy to lead and he must leave.” Gaddafi hasn’t left yet, nor has the 68-year-old dictator indicated any intention of leaving any time soon, and the military actions of the United States and our allies do not seem calculated to force Gaddafi from power.
Least of all does Gaddafi’s continued rule seem jeopardized by the poorly armed and ill-organized Libyan rebels. . . .

Please read the whole thing.

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Category: Barack Obama, Libya

Comments

  • http://twitter.com/YetAnotherITGuy YetAnotherITGuy

    BHO doesn’t have the faintest clue how, when and why to enage in any sort of military action. And the military can’t stand him anyway. Hillery has at least *some* idea what to do (specifically, KILL Gaddafi) — put her in charge.

    Is it 2012 yet?

  • Anonymous

    Good article at the Spectator. Obviously partitioning Libya while leaving GoDaffy or his kids in charge isn’t workable, but the notion that Libya is a single nation as opposed to a collection of tribes in the someone else’s administrative unit isn’t historically accurate. In the 16Th century the “three provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan” became one regency in Tripoli by the Ottoman Turks. Breaking Libya into two or more “countries” could be a reasonable solution, particularly if the continuing conflict was kept to level that still allowed oil shipments.

  • Anonymous

    And the bad part hasn’t even started- I wonder what people will be saying when Gaddafi kicks-off the victory party with mass executions

  • http://profiles.google.com/benning76 Jeffrey Keenan

    So can we expect the President of Yemen to tell Barry to “stuff it”? ‘Bout time! LOL

  • Pingback: Priorities: Obama’s commitment to funding abortion more important than paying military at war « Politicaljunkie Mom

  • DaveO

    Operation Oddysey Dawn is not a failure. It is a smashing success, no sarcasm intended.

    DOD and DOS are spending money that they wanted to spend elsewhere, such as fighting AIDS in Africa and so on. Now they aren’t. Result of Value (ROV): America’s status diminished on the African continent.

    Spending cuts made by Congress will be eaten up with war spending before they start of the next FY. ROV: GOP control of the House nullified.

    Without proper terminal control of aircraft, NATO and American aerial attacks are hitting foe and not-ally alike. The winner will have a very big chip on his shoulder. ROV: America forced to take on a larger role in European affairs as Europe will self-neuter in order to keep oil flowing from either Libya, or Russia.

    Through the inaccurate aerial attacks (lack of boots on the ground terminal control), neither Khaddafy, his heirs, or the rebels will be in a position to repel the much better organized and funded Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian Revolutionary Guards. ROV: Europe’s going to self-neuter, possibly even making Sharia the law of the land in order to keep oil flowing. Alternately, Europe walks in the Russian sphere in order to keep the oil flowing. ROV: America will have to put out a lot of cash to maintain the Med as a free line of commerce, and life-line for Israel.

    Many independents, and a number of Republicans face the petard of their own belief. ‘Support the President in wartime’ can be sharp to say the least, and this petard is made of hoisting. This tactic neutralizes any charge of Obama lacking the fortitude to carry out military operations. His alliance of sorts will be trumpeted as a Diplomacy Knockout, since most voters don’t understand how scaled down this alliance is. NATO already existed, and oil is important to NATO. That said, only a few of its member states are participating. Bush-43 went into Iraq with almost 50 nations openly backing him, and many more refusing to stop him. ROV: Ignorance = votes. Expect to see Obama-as-Rocky IV characterizations.

    So OOD is not a failure by these metrics. The other metrics: body counts, stuff blown up, ground taken – do not factor in the analysis.

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