Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs
Barack Obama speaking at the AFL-CIO Presidential Forum on August 7, 2007: “But the fact of the matter is that when we don’t talk to the American people – we’re debating the most important foreign policy issues that we face, and the American people have a right to know, It is not just Washington insiders [...]
President Obama’s grand coalition against Libya is a lot less than meets the eye.
One of the common comments from critics of the intervention in Libya has been that we don’t even know who the rebels are. Well, now we’re starting to learn about them, and it’s not entirely good news: Shortly after unrest broke out in eastern Libya in mid-February, reports emerged that an “Islamic Emirate” had been [...]
The White House’s effort to avoid calling a war a war reached even more absurd levels today during the Press Briefing: American and allied planes and ships pummeled Libyan air defenses and other military targets Thursday as the international alliance confronting Moammar Gadhafi moved toward shifting its command lead from Washington to NATO. U.S. officials [...]
The New York Times is reporting that the reparations that Libya paid as part of the settlement of the claims against it for the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 were actually paid by BP and other oil companies: WASHINGTON — In 2009, top aides to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi called together 15 executives from global [...]
So far only one Arab nation has provided material support to the mission in Libya: WASHINGTON — As America’s NATO allies shoulder a greater share of the mission in Libya, the Arab countries that urged the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone are missing from the action. Except for the small Persian Gulf [...]
The Libyan rebels probably aren’t strong enough to defeat Gaddafi on their own, and the no-fly zone isn’t going to be enough either. Which means this operation is going to be far more extensive than President Obama is willing to admit publicly.
ABC News reports that the White House wants to make clear that what’s going on in Libya is not a war: In politics as in physics, nature abhors a vacuum, and with so many unanswered questions, the situation in Libya feels like that vacuum. Happy to fill that void are Republicans eager to take advantage [...]
No, really, we had a contract and everything: WASHINGTON (AP) — In the months before Libyans revolted and President Barack Obama told leader Moammar Gadhafi to go, the U.S. government was moving to do business with his regime on an increasing scale by quietly approving a $77 million dollar deal to deliver at least 50 [...]
The public, and Congress, are skeptical of the mission in Libya, and the reason for that is because the President has failed to tell us exactly why we’re there and what we’ll be doing.
It has become quite apparent that neither the White House nor our coalition partners have any idea what the path to an endgame in Libya even looks like. That’s not good.
Four days into the operations in Libya, and the British Navy is already thinking about potential supply problems: The Navy could run out of Tomahawk missiles after a fifth of the Navy stockpile has been used against Libya, sources disclosed yesterday. Defence insiders say as many as 12 of the weapons have been fired from [...]
If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for the White House to come up with a new goal for our mission in Libya: The White House suggested Tuesday the mission in Libya is one of regime change, despite emphatic statements from President Obama and military brass that the goal is not to remove Moammar Gadhafi [...]
The English are so quaint, what with their odd way of spelling colour, those double-decker buses, the way they call elevators “lifts,” and their cute little devotion to the idea of democratically debating whether their country should go to war: London – The British government won overwhelming parliamentary backing late Monday for its role in [...]
Another U.S. military official has said publicly that the mission in Libya could end in a stalemate that leaves Gaddafi in power: Could the international coalition’s attack on Libya end in a stalemate? Even after the massive international bombing campaign, might Libya’s longtime leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, still refuse to give up power? The U. [...]
In her best passive aggressive mode, Sarah Palin use her speech this weekend in India to say that Americans have a tradition of criticizing the President while overseas. Then she proceeded to criticize the President while overseas: “The U.S. has a tradition of course of Americans as we travel to foreign soil we don’t criticize [...]
Obama is visiting Brazil and Chile while American fighting men join the coalition against Libya.
This morning, it took George Will about a minute to lay out the case against Operation Odyssey Dawn: CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: “George. Do you think this was the right thing to do?” GEORGE WILL: “I do not. We have intervened in a tribal society in a civil war. And we’ve taken sides in that civil war [...]
There hasn’t been much talk over the past month about just who the people fighting to overthrow the Gaddafi regime actually are. Undoubtedly, a large part of the uprising is a genuine revolt by the people of Libya against a brutal dictator. However, the rebels also include those whose vision of a post-Gaddafi Libya would [...]
A mere week after calling for a no-fly zone over Libya, the Arab League is now criticizing the nations implementing a no-fly zone over Libya: CAIRO (AP) — The head of the Arab League has criticized international strikes on Libya, saying they caused civilian deaths. The Arab League’s support for a no-fly zone last week [...]
U.S. officials are making clear that the current mission in Libya may not lead to the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule. If that’s the case, then why are we there in the first place?
As the opening hours of the U.N. sanctioned action against Libya, the United States has taken its first offensive military action against Libya since the bombing attacks in 1986: U.S. military officials have confirmed the first American tomahawk cruise missiles have been fired at targets inside Libya from ships in the Mediterranean Sea. The move [...]
Marc Thiessen takes not of what he believes to be a significant change in rhetoric on the part of President Obama with regard to Libya: President Obama just delivered an ultimatum to Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi: Now, once more, Moammar Gaddafi has a choice: The resolution that passed lays out very clear conditions that must [...]
Faced with a United Nations Security Council Resolution and the threat of international military action, Libya announced today that it was halting all military action against the rebels in the eastern half of the country: Hours after the United Nations Security Council voted to authorize military action and the imposition of a no-flight zone, Libya [...]
While we don’t know yet the extent to which American forces will be involved in enforcing the U.N. Security Council’s resolution against Libya, I think Senator Richard Lugar is absolutely correct here: The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee argued against implementing a no-fly zone over Libya on Thursday, and also said that [...]
Late today, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution authorizing military action in support of the Libyan rebellion: UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council approved a measure on Thursday authorizing “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians from harm at the hands of forces loyal to Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi. The measure allows not [...]
With minor exceptions, all of the potential candidates for the GOP nomination in 2012 seem to have accepted the idea that defense spending, and the Bush-era interventionist foreign policy, are off the table when it comes time to talk spending cuts.
While the U.N. Security Council engages in a largely fruitless debate over what action to take in Libya, the Obama Administration is sending further signals that establishing a no-fly zone is pretty much off the table at this point: While administration officials said the United States would not obstruct efforts by other countries to build [...]
It would appear that the Chancellor of Germany is the primary voice of reason in Europe when it comes to intervening in the Libyan Civil War: Germany has again blocked Anglo-French plans for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya. Reports from talks held by G8 ministers in Paris said German objections, backed by [...]
Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are closing in on what has become the capital of the rebellion: Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader’s forces and rebels are fighting for control of the oil town of Brega as the battle for eastern Libya edged closer to Benghazi, the so-called “rebel capital” in the east. Al Jazeera’s Tony [...]
Some rather sobering words today from one of the Obama Administration’s top officials: The US national intelligence director has predicted embattled Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi will defeat the rebels challenging his grip on power. James Clapper told the US Senate that Col Gaddafi’s superior military force would prevail over the long term. And Secretary [...]
After two weeks during which it seemed like the government in Tripoli was only hours away from collapse, the forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi appear to be gaining the upper hand: RAS LANUF, Libya —Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi retook this strategic refinery town after an assault by land, air and sea Thursday, opposition [...]
George Will is out this morning with a few questions for those who want the United States to intervene in the Libyan Civil War: The world would be better without Gaddafi. But is that a vital U.S. national interest? If it is, when did it become so? A month ago, no one thought it was. [...]
Establishing a no-fly zone in Libya won’t stop the Civil War, and it’s likely to draw the United States further into a conflict that it needs to stay out of.
For the moment at least, the tide in the Libyan Civil War seems to be turning against the rebellion: RAS LANUF, Libya — Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi seemed to be gathering momentum as they renewed their onslaught on both the eastern and western fronts on Tuesday, threatening the western city of Zawiyah and [...]
While Washington talking heads continue to advocate for American military involvement in Libya, the American people feel otherwise: As official Washington buzzes with talk of possible U.S. military intervention in Libya, the majority of U.S. voters continue to favor a hands-off approach. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 22% of Likely [...]
Via the BBC: Egypt protesters attacked by ‘armed civilians’ in Cairo On Sunday, men in plain clothes armed with swords and petrol bombs confronted the pro-democracy activists after soldiers dispersed a Cairo rally they were holding to demand reform of the security services, eyewitnesses say. "The army started firing in the air to disperse us," [...]
Thomas Ricks has a few questions for those who advocate a largely U.S. led no-fly zone over Libya: 1. Imposing a no-fly zone is an act of war. For example, it would require attacking Qaddafi’s air defense systems-not just anti-aircraft guns and missile batteries, but also radar and communications systems. We may also need some [...]
Via the BBC: Egypt’s Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq resigns Egypt’s Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq has resigned, the country’s ruling military council has announced in a statement. A former transport minister, Essam Sharaf, has been asked to form a new government, the statement adds. [...] "The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decided to accept the [...]
Intervening to “help” the Libyan revolt is very tempting, but it’s a temptation we ought to resist.
Establishing a no-fly zone isn’t likely to be enough to remove the current Libyan regime from power.
Via the Guardian: Charlie Sheen v Muammar Gaddafi: whose line is it anyway? It’s harder than you might think.
And, so it begins. Now that Americans have, for the most part, been evacuated from Libya, there’s been a noticeable uptick in the rhetoric coming out of Washington, and it reached a new level this afternoon with comments from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: The United States must consider military action in Libya if Muammar [...]
Just in case you wondered about the extent of Muammar Gaddafi’s delusions: I interviewed Col. Moammar Gadhafi this morning, when he told me he cannot step down because he is not a president or king, and claimed there have been no demonstrations in the streets of Libya’s capital. “My people love me. They would die [...]
Via the BBC: Hosni Mubarak: Egypt’s former leader given travel ban Egypt’s public prosecutor has issued a travel ban on ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his family. The order also freezes their money and assets, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said. [...] Egypt has already requested a number of governments to freeze the overseas [...]
