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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Administration's Timid Response on Libya

Isn't it amazing to see and hear the timid statements coming out of Washington as the Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi orders his goons to slaughter protesters?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/02/22/administration-urged-squeez-libya-concrete-action/

Now I realize that we have to be verrrrry careful about not being perceived as meddling in the affairs of any Middle Eastern nation. I get that. I also realize that the Obama administration has its hands full scolding Israel at the UN for their settlements (trying to strike a balance with their veto of  a UN resolution).

But for crying out loud; this is the bastard that had Pan Am 103 brought down over Lockerbie, Scotland among many other transgressions. So if Obama, Clinton or PJ Crowley are going to measure their words, I won't. Here goes.

News alert: "Fousesquawk today called on the Libyan people to storm the presidential palace, seize Gaddafi and tear him limb from limb."

"I'll drink to that."

Now let's go get a beer.

3 comments:

Miggie said...

If we had any leadership in foreign affairs, we wouldn't be lurching around without a direction.

A leader would get top people to list all the available alternative responses and give the pros and cons of each based on the intelligence we should have.

He would look at the likely short term and long term consequences for each each option. Some kind of plan would emerge that would be better than a "let's see what happens" approach. That in itself may be a plan, but you usually get to it after everything is considered. I could be wrong but I just don't get the feeling that is being done.

These are momentous times in the Middle East and I believe a very dangerous time with consequences for all of us. We really need a statesman leader now and all we have is a unprepared, ill-equipped, community organizer.
.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

Miggie's definition of "leadership in foreign affairs" amounts to "a State Department which provides Miggie with copies of all the secret cables of the kind WikiLeaks got hold of, so Miggie could personally satisfy himself that the nation's business is being conducted in precisely the manner he approves of."

Or, does Miggie want the information broadcast hourly to the entire world? Maybe we should vote on Libya policy twice a week?

By the way, I'm waiting for Gary's praise of President Obama's statesmanlike presentation and hard behind the scenes work, now that he has made the forthright statement Gary has been calling for.

Ben Ali had his Bouazizi, Mubarak had his El Baradei, and Scott Walker may profit by their example ... but he seems intent on emulating Ghaddafi.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

The closer any nation gets to a desirable outcome (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya) the quieter Gary becomes.

I read that Muammar Gaddafi is blaming el Qaeda and Osama bin Laden for drugging Libyan youth, making them disobedient to their parents, and fomenting this rebellion.

I guess that means the U.S. should be supporting Gaddafi all the way, in the name of the War on Terrorism.

Right?