Torpedos Over Tripoli

And that is going to be Obama's cross to bear once all is said and done. There was no reason for him to not follow the proper procedures. That being said, as long as we have soldiers in harm's way it is irrisponsible to beat on the CIC regarding how we got into the mission. But now that things have started, Obama really has to address the nation and lay out what he is hoping to accomplish and what will happen once his goals are met. I cannot believe he hasn't sone this yet.

And for people saying we have no business being there, thousands of innocent lives were saved.

 

But it's also worth asking the question as to whether or not the rescuers were returning fire or just opened up for no reason. Kinda changes the tone of the story a bit if it was the former.

 

Yeah, but Obama is acting like this isn't a war and like it will be over in less than a week.

"it's like invading Wisconsin."

He went on vacation and let the French be the face of the operation.

There's no way we're out in a week. Obama needs to step up and own this.

 

I see somebody else on the board needs to brush up on his War Powers Act.

 

No president is ever on vacation.

That said, from a PR standpoint he looked pretty weak by hiding behind the French on this then blowing town as the shooting starts. And he looked even weaker when it came out we were really running show.

I've said it before but for a guy who appears to be pretty smart he's got some stupid people advising him.

 

I certainly understand that Obama has the right to commit troops without asking Congress, but I don' have to agree with his decision.

Success or failure, it is clearly on Obama's shoulders since he chose not to bring Congress into decision.

Maybe it's a wise political decision since it does not congress into a "for" or "against" position. Certainly such a position hurt John Kerry.

 

Sounds like Russia and China, both of whom stand on the sidelines and "tut-tut" about the Allied response after abstaining from an opportunity to snuff that response before it happened.

 

I think the reaction of some posters here to the fact the French are even involved in this mission is hilarious, or would be if it weren't so sad.
The FRENCH were the ones who acted first, breaking whatever chain of command there is in this deal (it IS fuzzy), because THEIR President Nicolas Sarkozy, unlike all American politicians, is an opportunistic publicity hound and glory seeker. Thank heavens we have no leaders like that in our fair land.

 

I have no idea if this has been corroborated elsewhere yet, but I wouldn't take Channel 4's word for it if they said the sky was blue. Not saying the report won't turn out to be true, but the source here isn't the world's most credible. Bit like the local news on a regional Fox affiliate.

 

As the great Fenian Bastard used to say-- "show us your work."

All that I've read point to The French providing convenient cover for the USA.

If in fact what you say is correct then Obama should have wished them good luck and walked away.

If it was about saving human life why now? What about Rwanda, Darfur?

What do we know about the rebel force? How do we know that they are not acting on behalf of Al Queda?

 

Sarkozy nipped Cameron in a photo finish to be the first Western leader to propose intervention of some form in Libya. I call that one form of leadership.
The French attacked Qaddafi's forces around Benghazi before the cruise missile attack on the air defense system. That is 100 percent contrary to U.S. air warfare tactical doctrine, so I deduce they made that decision on their own hook. Could be wrong, but that's the only supposition here.
As a matter of policy, no U.S. President is going to "walk away" from a proposed military action by other Western powers. He's either going to quash it, as Ike did at Suez, or support it, as Reagan did in the Falklands, but walking away is not an option.
All you questions in the last post are valid. And if a Republican President had done this, you wouldn't be asking them.

 

wait a minute, this was an option? dammit, obama!