Finally – Action Against Libya
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/03/18/finally-%E2%80%93-action-against-libya/
After a month of merciless slaughter carried out by Muammar Gaddafi against his own people, the United Nations Security Council has finally bestirred itself and passed a resolution authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya and air strikes to assist the rebels in toppling the dictator. The resolution also authorizes all military actions “short of a ground assault” to help the opposition bring down Gaddafi. Some are questioning, however, whether this maneuver is too little, too late, and whether U.S. leadership would have made the difference.
Less than a week ago, the White House was resisting an Anglo-French proposal for a no-fly zone and fought against including one in a previous Security Council resolution. Defense Secretary Gates was strongly opposed and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff questioned the necessity for one.
Few in the administration appeared to have the stomach for any kind of intervention – at least any kind that would be decisive. The exception was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who had been quietly lobbying the White House for the U.S. to come out from behind the skirts of the United Nations and assert its traditional role as leader in a world crisis.
Instead, the Obama administration deferred to President Sarkozy of France, whose government almost immediately recognized the Libyan opposition government while working with Great Britain to organize the G-8 to supply some assistance to the rebels. Chancellor Merkel’s Germany squashed that idea (with the assistance of Russia), but it was clear to anyone who cared to notice that France, not the United States, had taken the lead in organizing the international community against Gaddafi.
At a contentious G-8 meeting on Monday in Paris, Clinton was reduced to a sideline observer as diplomats tried to hash out a course of action on Libya. Repeated urgings from participants for a stronger U.S. response in the near term was met with silence from the U.S. Secretary of State. One diplomat told Foreign Policy Magazine, “Frankly we are just completely puzzled,” the diplomat said. “We are wondering if this is a priority for the United States.” Later, in a private meeting with President Sarkozy, Mrs. Clinton could only say repeatedly that “there are difficulties,” when queried about a stronger U.S. response. It is unclear whether she was referring to difficulties caused by Russia at the UN or difficulties at the White House with getting Obama to make a decision.
Indeed, a Clinton “insider” told Joshua Hersh of The Daily that Mrs. Clinton was “fed up” with “a president who couldn’t make up his mind,” and was looking for a way out. Clinton told Wolf Blitzer that she had no desire to serve in a second Obama administration, nor did she express interest in running for president again. The source described to Hersh the Obama foreign policy shop, saying, “It’s amateur night,” and that Clinton had grown tired of the administration’s waffling. She had opened the State Department to the former staff at the Libyan embassy, giving them an office and worked hard to get the Arab League to back the no-fly zone.
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