Obama's Half-Hearted War in Libya

Note:  You might want to start at the Barack Obama Index Page, especially if you arrived here by using a search engine.

Introduction:

By now, even his supporters realize that Barack Obama is an empty suit.  Before he got this job, he had no management experience in any for-profit organization.  He only knows how to spend other people's money, how to read other people's words off the teleprompter, and how to take credit for other people's ideas.  Credit soon turns to blame when the money is all gone, the words make no sense, and the ideas include participation in a third Middle East war.

You would think that the usual "no blood for oil" protests would have developed overnight, just as they did when President George W. Bush initiated the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.  But, with the possible exception of Cindy Sheehan*, they are all silent.

President Obama has repeatedly shown in the past that he is ashamed of America, and in particular, he detests the military power of the U.S.  Moreover, he relishes the idea of high gas prices.  This puts him in a most awkward position:  He is using America's military power so that America can ride to the rescue in Libya, finish their civil war for them, and keep the oil flowing.  He's a "community organizer" armed with cruise missiles.

Subsections on this page:

When Libya became unstable, Obama didn't know what to do.

When Obama finally made his move, he still didn't know what to do.


Related topics on nearby pages:

The Clamor for Obama's impeachment

Obama appears to be thoroughly incompetent

Evidently Obama hates America

Obama is the primary cause of high oil prices

Obama is systematically dismantling the U.S. economy

Obama is weakening America's defenses

Obama lies

Obama only knows what the teleprompter tells him



Barack Obama dithers and stalls for as long as possible

Susan Rice:  Another Obama Failure.  America's Ambassador to the United Nations has been a failure.  Perhaps Susan Rice should spend less time career-climbing in DC, angling to replace Hillary Clinton (she has been "wildly inattentive" according to the non-partisan The Hill magazine) and more time doing her job.  Rice (and the US) was AWOL when it came to the vote to allow Libya onto the UN Human Rights Council; was AWOL in a Sec Council Resolution that condemned Israel (the first time such as Security Council resolution was not vetoed by America).

Obama takes a stand on Libya.  Obama has finally taken a stand on the ongoing carnage in Libya.  After nine days of silence, he has finally, and forcefully, condemned the "outrageous" crackdown by Libyan security forces on protesters.  He also said that a unified international response was forming.  Whew.  Translation:  America will stand firmly behind the United Nations.

An Administration Adrift.  As the [Libyan] crackdown began, and then escalated, it was early afternoon on February 16, halfway around the world in the State Department briefing room, when the Obama administration faced questions about how it regarded Muammar Qaddafi.  "Is Qaddafi a dictator?"  State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley, at the podium for his daily briefing, smiled at the question and turned his head to call on another reporter.  "Are you stumped?"  "I'm not stumped," Crowley responded tartly.  "So what's your answer to the question?  Is he a dictator?"  Crowley smirked.  "I don't think he came to office through a democratic process."

Getting Down While the World Burns.  The President has done nothing about the crisis in Libya except give a press conference in which he called the situation "unacceptable," then proceeded to accept it. ... Not a word has been uttered from the White House to condemn the fugitive Democrats who acted to shut down democracy in Wisconsin and Indiana.  Widespread violence and hatred from union foot soldiers has gone unremarked.  The pirates of Somalia sail through the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden with confidence after slaughtering four innocent Americans. ... His hapless Secretary of Homeland Security gapes in wonder as Americans are murdered on the southern border, while a young Saudi national is caught on the verge of deploying weapons of mass destruction.  The nation teeters on the edge of ruin, and the President responds by submitting an absurd dead-on-arrival budget that increases federal spending.  Where is President Obama during all this?  He's enjoying the sounds of Motown at a star-studded White House event.

Has Anyone Told Ambassador Rice There's a Crisis In Libya?  When President Obama made Susan Rice his ambassador to the United Nations, in 2009, he thought the job was so vital that he gave her cabinet rank.  Now, here we are, with the Arab world in tumult, two dictators gone in the past two months, and the UN aflutter over scenes of Libyans dying this past week by the hundreds, or thousands, in outright rebellion against a raving Moammar Gaddafi — who has been vowing to "fight to the last drop of blood." ... Where's Susan Rice, the cabinet rank ambassador of the free world's superpower?

Barack Carter-Obama Is Back.  When even CNN implicitly recognizes that Barack Obama probably is, and certainly is seen in the Arab world as, every bit as spineless as the worst American president in recent generations (until the current one), Barack Obama and Democrats who hope to get elected or re-elected in 2012 had better hope that foreign policy magically drops off the table as an issue before the elections.  The way things are going in North Africa and the Middle East, the Obama-Carter comparisons are likely to haunt our current president through the election and will increase the chances that Barack Obama's first term is also his last — much to the chagrin of dictators around the world.

Fear and loathing of the fruitcake.  [Scroll down]  When the president got around to talking for the first time about the [Libyan] "situation" he boasted that his "national-security team" had been working around the clock, in more meetings, and had produced "a full range of options" requiring still more meetings.  His message was something a high-school junior might have prepared for a citizenship essay.

Obama Bringing Mop To A Gunfight?  A superpower must weigh the many evils in the world and target the biggest threats — not wait impotently for crises, then reach for the mop.

Obama's Gadhafi waffle.  Libya is engaged in a civil war.  New protests have broken out in Oman, Bahrain and Yemen.  The uprising in Tunisia, the pioneer state of the so-called "Arab Spring," is entering a second phase.  As usual, the amateurish Obama administration has no idea what to do about any of this.

Obama Never Fails to Disconnect.  In the 2008 presidential primaries, Hillary Clinton pointed to Obama's inexperience by asking who was better equipped to handle the "3 in the morning" phone call Presidents get.  Today it is increasingly and depressingly clear that Obama is inept and fumbling no matter what time of day the call comes.  From gas prices, unemployment, and federal spending to Gitmo, the BP oil spill, and Gaddafi — every challenge yet has caught Obama by surprise and resulted in embarrassing gaffes, late reactions, contradictory statements, phony photo ops, and phony-baloney plans that inevitably require later revision.

Costly Indecisiveness on Libya.  In a remarkably ridiculous statement for a man who has done nothing except charter a boat in response to the crumbling revolution in Libya, President Obama yesterday [3/16/2011] said that his administration was "slowly tightening the noose" on dictator Moammar Gaddafi.  There has been no noose, loose or tight, placed on Gaddafi by the U.S. or anybody else.

Obama's Presidency Hangs by a Thread.  Japan may be on the verge of an unprecedented catastrophe.  Saudi Arabia is all but colonizing Bahrain.  Qaddafi is close to retaking Libya, with bloodbath to follow.  And, as Jim Geraghty notes, the president of the United States is going on ESPN to talk about the NCAA and delivering speeches today on his rather dull plan to replace No Child Left Behind with No Teenager Left Behind, or something like that.

About that trip to Brazil: Why now?  Foreign travel has been seen as a political liability for Obama; and with this trip, the pattern is likely to continue.  The worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl is unfolding in Japan, the United States and its allies are crafting urgent plans for a Libya no-fly zone operation that could mean air raids on Tripoli within days, and at home, Republicans and Democrats are in a standoff over a budget for the federal government, which administration officials say is being hobbled by a series of stopgap funding measures.

Obama golfs and picks NCAA favorites while the Middle East melts down.  How do we even begin to describe the leadership style and behavior of President Obama? ... Obama is dangerous, ineffective, cowardly, and most UN American.  The nation must rise up and vote him out in 2012.

All talk and no action.
 Barack Obama is in no hurry to see Gaddafi go.  Would President Obama prefer a Gaddafi victory?  If that sounds implausible, then just look at the record.  On March 3, Obama announced that Gaddafi "must go".  Two weeks have passed since then — and more than a month since the uprising began on February 15.  In the interim, the tide of war has turned in Gaddafi's favour.  Yet Obama [as of this writing, had] done nothing to make his own words reality.

Will Libya be Obama's Bay of Pigs?  Often compared to President Kennedy, President Obama may well find that Libya has become his Bay of Pigs.  Barely remembered now, the Bay of Pigs fiasco occurred early in the Kennedy administration.  It was the first mistake in a string of foreign policy miscues reversed only when the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 brought the world to the edge of nuclear war. ... Fifty years later, an eerily similar scenario is unfolding in Libya.

Obama's Tactless Diversions.  One thing's for sure, when an opportunity to celebrate arises, America's biggest partiers never hesitate to promptly board Air Force One.  An irradiated Japan melts and Libyan freedom fighters die while in Cidade Maravilhosa, the "Marvelous City" of Rio de Janiero, President Obama will ponder no-fly zones.  After sharing NCAA picks on ESPN, "global citizen" Barack Obama is taking the teleprompter to Latin America.

Barack Obama's paralysed presidency.  While Barack Obama has dithered, and his Secretary of State has worshipped at the altar of the United Nations, one of the most brutal tyrants on the face of the earth is getting away with murder, with a death toll that could reach as high as 15,000.  It is a sad day when the foreign policy of the United States, the world's greatest power, is subordinated to the whims of the UN, for decades a playground for dictators and unabashed anti-Americanism.

Obama is too busy with his March Madness bracket to take a stand on Libya.  While President Obama has been busy focused on filling out his March Madness college basketball brackets on television here at home, there is a global version of March madness sweeping the Middle East, most seriously in Libya, whose violent uprising affects not only our own interests — namely, oil — but the security of our allies in that region.

Our Libyan March Madness.  The president seems more knowledgeable about the tournament chances of two dozen college basketball teams than he does about the Libyan labyrinth.

On-the-job training for Obama.  "Never attribute to conspiracy," a wise man once said, "what can be explained by incompetence."  Maybe we should cut Barack Obama a little slack. ... Watching a folk dance in Brazil was certainly less stressful than spending time in the War Room, taking only bad news.


Barack Obama goes to war

President Obama, representing the "no blood for oil" party, made the decision to attack Libya sometime during the week ending March 19, 2011, and two days later notified Congress that we were at war.  That's not the way it works, and you would think that a former constitutional lecturer -- some say "scholar" -- would know better.  The President can ask the Congress for a declaration of war, but he does not have the authority to start another war on his own.  That's in Article I, Section 8, if you'd like to look it up.

Note:  The newest material is at the bottom of the page.

One World Government Obama.  Where did Mr. Obama get the authority to commit United States forces to war in Libya?  There was no declaration of war.  There was no authorizing resolution by Congress allowing money to be spent on a war against Col. Gaddafi.  As far as I know, there was no meeting of Mr. Obama and top leaders of Congress to discuss the subject in even rough form, let alone detail. ... [And] I wonder if there has ever before in history been a national leader who sent his country to war — and the same day went off on vacation.  Has that ever happened before?

The First Casualty of War.  Shortly after the first U.S. cruise missiles hit their targets Saturday [3/19/2011], the collateral damage became apparent — not in Libya, but on the home front, where liberal credibility was shattered by President Obama's sudden resort to military action against Moammar Gaddafi's regime.  Those who had hailed Obama's ascent as the dawn of a new age of peace, an end to the alleged "cowboy" belligerence of the Bush years, exploded with a mixture of outrage, confusion and chagrin as their hero flung the country into war in North Africa.

Two Days Later, President Obama Alerts Congress the US Joined a War.  Amidst claims by members of Congress that they were insufficiently consulted, and ensuing White House pushback, President Obama Monday [3/21/2011] officially notified congressional leaders that at "approximately 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, on March 19, 2011, at my direction, U.S. military forces commenced operations to assist an international effort authorized by the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council and undertaken with the support of European allies and Arab partners, to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and address the threat posed to international peace and security by the crisis in Libya."

The Editor says...
 Nobody believes that the Libyan civil war threatens "international peace and security" in any way other than its effect on the price of oil.

Libyan bombing 'unconstitutional', Republicans warn Obama.  Under the US constitution, Congressional approval is required for declarations of war. Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican on the House armed services committee, was among members who argued that military action in Libya was unconstitutional.  He told the Hill magazine:  "The United States does not have a King's army.  President Obama's unilateral choice to use US military force in Libya is an affront to our constitution."

Did Obama lose Congress on Libya?  President Barack Obama is facing growing anger from lawmakers who believe he overstepped his authority by launching missile strikes into Libya without first seeking the consent of Congress.  The criticism is from all directions:  from moderates, like Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Dick Lugar (R-Ind.); from those on the far left and right, like Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Ron Paul (R-Texas), who believe the president acted outside the Constitution; and from the establishment on both sides, including House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson of Connecticut and Republican Rep. Candice Miller of Michigan, a self-described "hawk."

Republican says action in Libya is an 'affront' to the US Constitution.  A senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee escalated his party's attacks on the Obama's administration's military action in Libya, calling the move unconstitutional.  "The United States does not have a King's army," Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) said in a statement released Monday evening.  "President Obama's unilateral choice to use U.S. military force in Libya is an affront to our Constitution."

Russian Duma Leader Wants Obama Stripped of Nobel Peace Prize.  The controversial leader of the Russian Liberal Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, said in a statement on Monday [3/21/2011] that he will ask the Nobel Committee to strip President Barack Obama of the Nobel Peace Prize.  Zhirinovsky said in the letter that the prize, awarded in 2009 for Obama's historic presidential victory and his work on nuclear non proliferation, was now hypocritical in light of recent missile strikes in Libya.

Did someone mention Obama's Nobel Prize?

President Obama, mission creep.  President Obama is being denounced by most of the developing world as an aggressor; protesters are demonstrating outside the White House charging America with committing torture; pictures have been released of American troops engaged in barbaric acts; and liberal Democrats have discovered the word impeachment.  It seems like it is 2005 again, but this time Barack is playing the role of commander in chief instead of Senate floor heckler.

On-the-job training for Obama.  "Never attribute to conspiracy," a wise man once said, "what can be explained by incompetence."  Maybe we should cut Barack Obama a little slack. ... Watching a folk dance in Brazil was certainly less stressful than spending time in the War Room, taking only bad news.

Kucinich: Obama's Participation In Libyan Missile Attacks May Be 'Impeachable'.  Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich is not keeping mum about his feelings on the U.S.'s use of military force in Libya, going so far as to wonder whether President Barack Obama's participation in air strikes over the tumultuous country constitute an "impeachable offense" because he did not first confer with Congress.

In letter to Congress, Obama asserts authority to strike Libya.  President Obama told congressional leaders that he ordered strikes on Libya under his Constitutional authority as commander in chief.

Go to Congress First.  On Thursday evening, the U.N. Security Council voted 10-0 (with five abstentions, including China, Russia, and Germany) to authorize the use of military force (i.e., "all necessary measures") against Libya.  Ostensibly, the resolution is designed to protect the Libyan people.  But not to mince words, it is a license for war against the regime of Moammar Qaddafi. ... As a practical matter, American armed forces must do the heavy lifting if the strategy is to have a prayer, and indications are that President Obama intends to oblige.  There is a catch:  The Security Council is powerless to "authorize" the U.S. military to do [anything].  The validity of American combat operations is a matter of American law, and that means Congress must authorize them.

A Foolish and Unconstitutional War.  "The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."  So said constitutional scholar and Senator Barack Obama in December 2007 — the same man who, this weekend, ordered U.S. air and missile strikes on Libya without any authorization from Congress.

What Is U.S. National Interest In Libya?  Campaigning in Iowa in 2007, Vice President Joe Biden said that based on a treatise he had five leading constitutional scholars draft, if President Bush "takes this nation to war in Iran without congressional approval, I will make it my business to impeach him."  Islamofascist Iran, with its nuclear weapon ambitions, is a real threat to the U.S.  The dangers of Gadhafi, whose nuke program was neutralized by the Bush administration, pale in comparison.  If the left's "responsibility to protect" ideology is to become official U.S. foreign policy, it should be debated openly first.

Led into war by a president who can't be trusted.  Americans will have a hard time supporting President Obama's war in Libya — because the United States is already fighting two wars, because the president never publicly made the case for involvement, because Congress never authorized the war, and because there are no identifiable American interests.  But just as important, for those Americans paying close attention, is the growing realization that the president can't be trusted.  His assurances that America's military role in Libya will be limited in scope and duration carry little weight after the lies and evasions of his top aides.

If Republicans Acted Exactly Like Democrats.  Imagine George W. Bush, after vacillating for month, deciding to put American troops in harm's way, even as he remained on vacation while the conflict began.  Imagine he did it without the Constitutional necessity of consulting Congress, and subordinated American interests to the whims of the United Nations. ... Imagine if George W. Bush had committed the American military to a conflict where we're on nobody's side.  Now imagine everything above either being virtually ignored by the mainstream media, or deliberately mischaracterized by it.

Libya: Obama's Got Some 'Splainin' to Do.  Can anyone please "splain" our Libya policy?  There have been so many positions taken by so many different folks in the administration from State to Defense to Executive over the past 2-3 weeks that I am a tad confused.  Even the latest version announced with classic stern face, upturned jaw and bellicose language was preposterous if you listened closely to the words.  First of all, what exactly is the Libyan "conflict"?

Obama is a liberal being mugged by reality in Libya.  How would state Sen. Barack Obama have reacted to President Obama's decision to authorize a no-fly zone over Libya, taken with no debate and no authorization from Congress, a commitment that could in real life become open-ended and involve this country in a prolonged civil conflict?  In his own words, not that well.  On Oct. 2, 2002, at the height of the Iraq war debate, he declared himself opposed to "a dumb war.  A rash war.  A war based not on reason but passion' against a 'bad guy' who butchered his people, but posed no direct threat to this country, that could lead to an open-ended, unbounded involvement of unknown duration and cost.

Is Obama's Use of Military in Libya Constitutional?  Leave aside for a moment whether it was wise for President Obama to order our military to intervene in Libya's civil war, siding with rebels we know little about against a dictator who has sponsored terrorism against us.  A more fundamental question comes first:  Did Obama have constitutional authority to do it?  President Washington's actions counsel otherwise.

Ron Paul believes Libya intervention an 'impeachable' offense.  Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul will be co-sponsoring an amendment announced Tuesday by Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich that would defund the American military intervention in Libya.  Kucinich suggested during a Saturday conference call with anti-war Democrats that he thought impeachment could also be considered for Obama's "unconstitutional" actions in Libya.

America's Descent Into Strategic Dementia.  What the US foreign policy fights regarding Egypt and Libya indicate is that currently, a discussion about how events impact core US regional interests is completely absent from the discussion.  The US's new war against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is the latest sign of its steady regional decline.  In media interviews over the weekend, US military chief Adm. Michael Mullen was hard-pressed to explain either the goal of the military strikes in Libya or their strategic rationale.

Is Obama's Libya offensive constitutional?  Members of Congress have been expressing increasing frustration over President Obama's decision to launch missile strikes against Libya without congressional approval.  Liberal Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich suggested the action was impeachable; Sen. Jim Webb, another Democrat, complained on MSNBC that Congress has "been sort of on autopilot for almost 10 years now, in terms of presidential authority, in conducting these types of military operations absent the meaningful participation of the Congress."

Bringing a Tomahawk to a gunfight.  From the beginning, [Obama's] handling of the air war against the Libyan dictator's forces was strange, raising more questions than the White House had answers.  While he was sending U.S. ship and air forces into harm's way, he was off on a pleasant tour of Latin America with his family, a series of photo-ops and one banquet after another.  The U.S. commander of chief had left his country while the war raged.

Calls for return of Obama's Nobel.  "Barack Obama has now fired more cruise missiles than all other Nobel Peace prize winners combined."  Exactly who said that first is unclear, but at some point over the weekend, the line began circulating around Twitter.  Since President Obama announced Friday that he had ordered an attack on Muammar Qadhafi's forces in Libya, he has attracted plenty of new critics, including lawmakers in his party.

Constitutional firestorm over Libya war and Biden's past impeachment words greet returning Obama.  It's one thing to have a Republican Speaker of the House and some Democrats as well wondering out loud how come Congress was not consulted before Obama committed American military forces to combat operations to do something in the vicinity of Libya when there was no threat to Americans.  John Boehner raised that issue Wednesday [3/23/2011] in a formal letter to the president.  But it's something else when President Obama's own vice president, Joe "I Don't Use Words Lightly" Biden suggests that a president who commits U.S. troops with no imminent threat to the country or its citizens and no congressional approval should be impeached.

The Second Time as Farce.  For years American liberals accused George W. Bush of being dumb and unserious — only to elect a man who actually is dumb and unserious.  Who announces a war in between his NCAA picks and a trip to Rio.  Who has spent more time playing golf, than directing the war effort.  Who spends more time in front of the mirror and the camera, than on policy.  They accused Bush of running an imperial presidency — and that is exactly what they got the second time around.

Few Americans see Obama as strong military leader.  Only 17 percent of Americans see President Barack Obama as a strong and decisive military leader, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken after the United States and its allies began bombing Libya.  Nearly half of those polled view Obama as a cautious and consultative commander-in-chief and more than a third see him as indecisive in military matters.

Obama's Incoherent Case for War.  As American forces join the war against Moammar Qaddafi, the nation is entitled to an explanation.  How is the case for war against Qaddafi smarter (remember, Obama is only against "dumb" wars) or less "ideological" or more prudent than that for war against Saddam Hussein?  Certainly with an army of only 50,000, Qaddafi represents far less of a threat to his neighbors or to us than did Saddam, who commanded an army estimated at 350,000.  As for humanitarian concerns, what Qaddafi is doing to the rebels in Libya is exactly what Saddam did to his domestic enemies, but on a reduced scale.  As Obama himself said, Saddam was "a ruthless man ... who butchers his own people to secure his power."  Yet that didn't justify a war, state senator Obama told us.

More examples of Obama's hypocrisy.

Obama's Big Blunder in Libya:  Sun Tzu wrote that deception was one of the most important factors in warfare. ... Not a day has gone by in the current campaign against Gaddafi but somebody prominent in the administration or military hasn't gotten up to explain what "we're not going to do".  This began with Obama's speech announcing U.S. participation, in which he promised that the boots of American troops "would never touch Libyan soil."  Circumstances being what they are and Obama being what he is, it's doubtful that anybody required any such assurance.  But they got it anyway, and it set the pattern for further comments of like nature.

Obama Wags the Dog.  What is this really about?  As the price of oil skyrockets, as our debt levels rise to new highs and our housing market drops to new lows, President Obama decides that it is a fantastic time to start dropping bombs on Libya.  Nobody, including Obama, seems to know what our objective is in Libya.  First, it was deposing terroristic thug Muammar Qaddafi; then it was standing up for the United Nations; then it was protecting civilians; now it is some combination of all of them.

Anti-Iraq War Bush-Haters Squirm to Justify Libya.  Like many anti-Iraq War/Bush-is-a-warmonger critics, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., supports the Libyan action.  Bush-hater Rachel Maddow of MSNBC rationalized that unlike the bloodthirsty President George W. Bush, you see, Obama ordered the military into action under a different "narrative" — that is, reluctantly and without zeal.  Understand?  The non-unilateralist Nobel Peace Prize laureate Obama, unlike Bush, sought no congressional war resolution.  Obama, therefore, ordered military action against Libya "unilaterally" — without the congressional approval that he once argued the Constitution demanded.

Kucinich: No intent to seek impeachment of Obama over Libya.  Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is denying any plans to seek the impeachment of President Obama over the U.S. involvement in Libya.  Kucinich recently raised the question of whether Obama could be impeached for leading the U.S. into a conflict — to enforce a United Nations-backed no-fly zone — without going to Congress first.

I Am Not the Only One Confused.  Am I the only one who's utterly confused about the rationale, goals, tactics and strategy of the U.S.-led military intervention in Libya?  Thought not.  I call it a U.S.-led operation because, people, let's be real.  Without U.S. diplomatic leadership, there would have been no U.N. Security Council resolution.  Without U.S. military leadership, there would have been no coordinated shock-and-awe attack to put dictator Moammar Gaddafi's rampaging forces back on their heels.

Obama's War on "War".  What if they gave a war and nobody was allowed to say it?  The debate over military action in Libya has lately taken an absurd twist, driven by the Obama administration's bizarre unwillingness to call a war a war.

Obama's impeachable war.  President Obama has lost his legitimacy to remain in office.  The Libyan war has exposed the administration's lawlessness and rampant criminality.  If Republicans and conservatives are serious about restoring constitutional government, they will demand that Mr. Obama be impeached.  The war is going badly.  The coalition is cracking; the strategic aims of the military intervention are not clear...

Obama and Libya: The professor's war.  President Obama is proud of how he put together the Libyan operation.  A model of international cooperation.  All the necessary paperwork.  Arab League backing.  A Security Council resolution.  (Everything but a resolution from the Congress of the United States, a minor inconvenience for a citizen of the world.)  It's war as designed by an Ivy League professor.

Is President Obama the weakest Commander-in-Chief in US history?  A new Reuters/Ipsos poll released today [3/25/2011] reveals a striking lack of public confidence in President Obama's ability as Commander-in-Chief, with just 17 percent of Americans describing his leadership as "strong and decisive", compared to 36 percent who believe it is "indecisive and dithering".

Obama's impeachable war.  President Obama has lost his legitimacy to remain in office.  The Libyan war has exposed the administration's lawlessness and rampant criminality.  If Republicans and conservatives are serious about restoring constitutional government, they will demand that Mr. Obama be impeached. ... Unless American territory has been invaded or U.S. citizens have been directly attacked, the president must first ask for congressional approval before ordering any kind of military action.  To do otherwise is to behave like a despot.  That is why the Founding Fathers insisted that going to war could be sanctioned only by the people's representatives.

Obama's Illegal War.  The whole notion that the President can unilaterally enter into unprovoked hostilities without first consulting Congress and receiving at a minimum legislative authorization is arguably false.  The National War Powers Act of 1973, oft cited as granting the President such powers, offers no such relief.  As stipulated by the Act, at least one of three conditions must be met prior to the President sending armed forces into ongoing hostilities or into situations where hostilities are likely to occur.

The Wimp Goes to War.  There are lots of reasons to criticize Obama for the Libya thing, but the most important is never mentioned:  it's the wrong battlefield.  The battlefields that will determine the outcome of the big war are Tehran and Damascus, and there are ongoing battles on both.  We could make a decisive difference, without bombing anything, without risking any American lives, just by giving political and perhaps some financial and technological support to the Iranian and Syrian rebellions.

The Speech Obama Hasn't Given:  I cannot for the life of me see how an American president can launch a serious military action without a full and formal national address in which he explains to the American people why he is doing what he is doing, why it is right, and why it is very much in the national interest.  He referred to his aims in parts of speeches and appearances when he was in South America, but now he's home.  More is needed, more is warranted, and more is deserved.  He has to sit at that big desk and explain his thinking, put forward the facts as he sees them, and try to garner public support.

The Art of Inconclusive War.  It is tempting and certainly very easy to point out that Obama's war (or Obama's "kinetic military action," or "time-limited, scope-limited military action," or whatever the latest ever more preposterous evasion is) is at odds with everything candidate Obama said about U.S. military action before his election.

Candidate Obama in 2007:
 Americans 'Have a Right to Know' Before Government Takes Military Action.  A new video shows President Barack Obama, as a presidential candidate in 2007, saying that the American people have a right to know about and participate in the debate over U.S. foreign policy decisions and whether the nation uses military force.  "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," Obama said at the AFL-CIO debate on Aug. 7, 2007.

Obama's Presidency Still Hangs By a Thread, But for a Different Reason.  The Obama presidency is again hanging by a thread, but this time the thread is not the result of inaction.  It is, rather, the result of taking action so incomprehensible and incoherent that even Obama's own people are finding it impossible to defend or explain.

Mayan ruins.  Somebody in the White House had the presence of mind to tell the president that perhaps taking the kids to visit the Mayan ruins wouldn't be the best thing to do when he has just ordered our Air Force to start bombing Libya.  The truly fascinating question is, What took him so long to make that decision?

Barack Obama's call sheet: Nicolas Sarkozy first, David Cameron second.  Reading the White House briefing on Barack Obama's Libyan diplomacy I'm struck by this, from Ben Rhodes, deputy NSA:  ["]Then he had two additional calls. He called President Sarkozy of France and Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom.["]

The Editor says...
 That's because Sarkozy is a fellow socialist, and Obama hates England as much as he hates America.

Obama Doctrine Is All Bark, No Bite.  A White House suddenly enthralled with cruise missile diplomacy and, without a Libyan exit strategy, issues a verbal warning to another murderous dictatorship.  Our policy is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Obama and the Ghost of '68:  The liberal magazine The Nation decried the intervention in Libya as "flagrant hypocrisy."  John Larson, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, upbraided Obama for not consulting Congress.  Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, called the war "another disaster."  If our involvement lasts weeks or months instead of days, Obama could lose many Democratic members.  He has already lost a lot of them on Afghanistan.

Collapse of the Obama Worldview.  Calling the matter "a limited military action in Libya" that would "protect Libyan civilians" was an earnest attempt at a positive spin.  But this fact remains:  after spending the first two years of his presidency insisting that the values of America and the Muslim world are consistent with one-another, now President Barack Obama was ordering bombs to be dropped on a predominantly Muslim country.  Might this fact suggest that some of President Obama's philosophical assumptions about the world have been, perhaps, a bit inaccurate?

The Leader Who Would Rather Not.  A British soccer mob has more unity and moral purpose.  Yet Obama deemed it a diplomatic success that the [Arab] League deigned to permit others to fight and die to save fellow Arabs for whom 19 of 21 Arab states have yet to lift a finger.  And what about that brilliant U.N. resolution?  Russia's Vladimir Putin is already calling the Libya operation a medieval crusade.

Ladies Who Launch.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with a little help from her friends, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and National Security Advisor Samantha Power, is being hailed as a decisive leader for persuading an indecisive President Obama to use military force against Libya in order to prevent "a potential humanitarian crisis" by Muammar Gaddafi against his own people.  Who knew that feminists would go to war against anyone but white male Republicans and Clarence Thomas?

Who's wearing the pantsuit at the White House?  In the end, the call didn't come at 3 a.m.  But the Decider in Chief who answered the phone made sure that everyone in the White House knew who wore the pantsuit around there.  And just as in the (first) Clinton presidency, the leaks began to pour out.  It was Hillary — not the former junior senator from Illinois — who forced the decision to intervene in Libya, "according to senior administration officials speaking only on condition of anonymity" to the New York Times.

The left goes to war.  I wonder how many liberals would've voted for Barack Obama if he had stumped the nation with this campaign vow:  "We're fighting two wars, but as president I pledge to change that policy by ordering up a third.  And I will do so by exercising the prerogatives of the imperial presidency.  George W. Bush felt it was necessary to get congressional authorization for the war in Iraq, but I will do him one better.  When I launch our third intervention, I pledge to inform the members of Congress only when it's too late for them to do anything about it.  Thank you very much!"

Obama's Libyan Operations are Unconstitutional.  The Constitution prescribes the rules about how the United States is to enter a war, and the Obama administration has violated those rules.  The administration argues that the hostilities, because limited, do not rise to the level of "war," as the Constitution uses that word.  But that position is almost surely wrong:  Founding-Era dictionaries and other sources, both legal and lay, tell us that when the Constitution was approved, "war" consisted of any hostilities initiated by a sovereign over opposition.

Charlie Foxtrot Over Libya.  It is impossible to understand Obama's case to enter this war, but when you hear his cabinet members and senior congressional Democrats explain it, the impossible turns into the bizarre.

Barack Obama, International Community Organizer.  Although some are rightly concerned about the specific constitutionality of the president's failure to seek authorization from Congress to initiate the joint attacks on Libya, it is hard to imagine this young president, who has demonstrated little experience in governing, would venture into military action without the benefit of the valuable insights of some of the members of Congress who likely could have provided counsel about the very issues which are now problematic.  Not to mention the obvious fact that the Congress represents the American people, who are entitled to a debate before such a monumental decision.

It's no time for a 'party'.  As for President Obama, what's his explanation for bombing Libya?  How can he possibly jibe his administration's use of war powers today with his own statement in 2007 that, "The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation"?  Answer:  He can't.

Being a leader is about more than reading off a teleprompter.  Unbeknownst to the novice commander in chief, Mr. Obama faces a mass of contradictions that makes this conflict a hard sell.
[#1] Mr. Obama has started a war that is not a war.
[#2] Mr. Obama is using military force, but his secretary of defense says there is no vital American interest involved.
[#3] Mr. Obama sold the country and the United Nations on a no-fly zone, but coalition forces are targeting Libyan ground troops.
[#4] Mr. Obama's mandate was to protect civilian lives, but he is actively siding with the rebellion.

Obama's war on 'war':  What if they gave a war and nobody was allowed to say it?  The debate over military action in Libya has lately taken an absurd twist, driven by the Obama administration's bizarre unwillingness to call a war a war.  Everyone knows what is going on in Libya is a war, but the administration has placed a moratorium on plain English.

Obama's missed break in Libya.  Obama, who campaigned on ending Middle Eastern wars, not starting them, wanted a war completely on his own terms.  He got what he wished for.

The hypocrisy of the American left:  President Barack Obama bowed to his generals' demands by tripling troops in an unending war.  CODEPINK did nothing.  Obama backed down on Guantanamo Bay.  Anti-war protesters stayed at home.  America invaded its third Muslim country in a decade.  The American left meekly went along.  Without the slightest hint of irony, liberals defended the president's indefensible position by returning again to a pose of moral certainty.  Democrats streamed to the floors of the House and Senate to praise the president for invading Libya.

Barack Obama's muddled speech leaves Libya war aims unclear.  President Barack Obama delivered an elegant speech in a setting — the National Defence University -- in which he appeared much more at ease then he does in the Oval Office. ... The bad news is that he left Americans no clearer about how this war ends and while speaking about American leadership tried to pretend that it was the European allies and Nato that were going to take the weight from this point on (the reality is that the US wil continue to do the heavy lifting).

More about Obama's  Oval Office  speech to justify the war in Libya.

Obama on Libya: Look, Just Trust Me On This.  On paper, I agree with a lot of what Obama is saying.  But he's stringing together a lot of pretty-sounding phrases without really getting at the questions most skeptical Americans have:  why intervene here and not in other places?

There Is a Method to Obama's Libya Madness.  [Scroll down]  Obama's secretary of defense, Robert Gates, admitted on national television Sunday [3/27/2011] that Libya poses no actual or imminent threat to the United States and that it is not a vital national security interest.  This was no gaffe.  Surely, Obama's team is not so incompetent and undisciplined that it didn't anticipate this question and carefully prepare the answer.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton damaged the administration's credibility even more by opining that as long as international bodies approved of America's kinetic military action, the president didn't even need to pick up the phone to call Congress.

Obama's Libya: Completing His Remaking of America.  Obama will remain as clueless, impervious and intransigent about the ineffectiveness of his foreign policy as he is to the proven failures of his domestic ones, and he'll learn no lesson from any of this.  In his eyes, he is remaking America for the better — and that's the only way he's capable of seeing it.

Obama's War.  In ordering air and naval strikes on a country that neither threatened nor attacked the United States, did President Obama commit an impeachable act?  So it would seem.  For the framers of the Constitution were precise.  The power to declare war is entrusted solely to Congress.  From King William's War to Queen Anne's War to King George's War to the Seven Years' War, the colonists had had their fill of royal wars.  To no principle were they more committed than that the power to declare war must be separate from the power to wage it.  And Obama usurped that power.

Lawmakers worry about Libya's costs as $550M tab revealed.  Lawmakers on Tuesday [3/29/2011] voiced concern about paying for the Libyan military campaign as the Pentagon revealed the intervention has cost more than $550 million to date.  As U.S. forces led the way in taking out Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's air defense and communications systems, then pounded his army units, the military "incurred added costs of about $550 million through [Monday]," a Pentagon official told The Hill in an email.

Replacing Principles with Coalitions.  It may be that Qaddafi is removed from power by non-military means.  But if not, it is hard to see how Operation Odyssey Dawn can be judged a success.  Qaddafi, having remained in power after the president of the United States declared he "must go," would likely emerge more dangerous and predatory than before.  America's reputation will certainly be damaged.

Obama's Libyan War.  Think of all the militant anti-war types who were thrilled at the removal of the Bush "war machine" in 2008, only to see President Obama's strained endorsement of military action in Libya.  Oh, how the political wave of the hard left has crashed ashore.  It seems like only yesterday when they were celebrating Cindy Sheehan as she flagrantly called President Bush "the biggest terrorist in the world." ... Over the last two years, these chagrined radicals have watched in stunned disbelief while their hero Obama continued the Iraq War wrap-up on the generals' timeline and then added more troops in Afghanistan.  They listened in shock as Team Obama announced it was reversing itself on indefinite detentions at Guantanamo.  And now he's started his very own kinetic military action.

Rangel: Obama Did Not Have Constitutional Authority to Act Unilaterally in Libya.  Following a closed briefing for members of the House on the U.S. military operation in Libya, Democrat Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) told CNSNews.com that President Obama did not have the constitutional authority to use military force in Libya without Congressional approval.  Rangel added that he would "like to believe" members of Congress are looking into whether or not the President's action is an impeachable offense.

What is a presidential 'finding'?  Barack Obama signed a secret order called a presidential 'finding', authorising covert US government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, according to reports.

Obama's Imperial Presidency.  When George W. Bush took US forces into Iraq, he received congressional approval.  But Barack Obama?  He's engaged in military operations against Libya and has not even consulted with congress.  As Bruce Ackerman points out, its not like he didn't have the time.  The Libyan crisis unfolded over the course of weeks.  There was not an immediate threat to the United States.

Team Obama, world police.  President Obama's Monday night speech on the "kinetic military activity" in Libya revealed that he has fully accepted the faddish "responsibility to protect" (R2P) rationale for military intervention abroad.  Unfortunately, this action is not just a direct attack on Libya's state sovereignty, but also on America's.

Obama Self Destructing Over Libya.  Barack Obama barely had time to enjoy his Egypt moment before mad dog Muammar Gaddafi threatened to kill innocent protesters in his own country.  Clearly, the Libyan debacle hit the fan before Obama had time to test which way the wind was blowing.  Politico is reporting that a new poll shows the President's approval rating dropped by 4 points since the beginning of March.

If there's no mission, when's it accomplished?  If I recall correctly, we went into Libya — or, at any rate, over Libya — to stop the brutal Gadhafi dictatorship killing the Libyan people.  And, thanks to our efforts, a whole new mass movement of freedom-loving democrats now has the opportunity to kill the Libyan people.

The Attack on Libya Crossed a Very Bright Constitutional Line.  The most fatal and consequential decision a nation can make is to go to war, and the American Founders wanted that decision made by all the representatives of the people after careful deliberation.  Only when Congress has made that fateful decision does it fall to the President as Commander in Chief to command our armed forces in that war.  The authors of the Constitution were explicit on this point.

Liberals among fiercest Libya critics.  As President Obama struggles to sell a contentious Libya strategy to a skeptical Congress, Capitol Hill's most liberal voices have emerged as some of the fiercest critics.

O-bomb-a.  Obama, the anti-war president who harped on America's trigger-happy ways while he was campaigning, has suddenly become Rambo.  There must be something about proximity to the Pentagon, inspecting honor guards and flying on Marine One that changes presidents.  They seem so reasonable and measured when they are running for office.

'No Blood for Oil' Is for Sale!  "No blood for oil" was a popular slogan chanted by the left in opposition to President George W. Bush's push to send U.S. forces into Iraq.  Now that President Obama authorized Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya, I have been waiting to hear chants of "no blood for oil."  I am happy to report, I don't hear them. ... In fact, as NATO forces are lobbing missiles to enforce a no-fly zone over the country with Africa's largest oil and gas reserves, the nobloodforoil.org domain name is for sale.

Is He a Sociopathic Liar or a Hypocrite?  [Scroll down]  People who pay attention to what he says note that there is not a single promise he made as a candidate he hasn't broken.  Indeed, even his oldest and staunchest allies are complaining that he's turned his back on them.  If anyone can find Code Pink and Mother Sheehan it would be interesting to find out their views on Libya.

What a Difference a War Can Make.  Remember the arguments against President Bush's decision to invade Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein?  Those arguments aren't heard today, now that a Democrat administration has led us to war in Libya.  Oh, I know President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton don't consider the Libyan no-fly zone a war, but it is a war.  When bombs are dropping, missiles are launching, guns are firing, and people are dying, that's a war.  No question about it.  Ask any Korea or Vietnam veteran to describe a "police action."

Our Libyan 'Pickup Game'.  As we put CIA boots on the ground to find out who the rebels are and withdraw air support as they retreat, our defense secretary describes how we're making up our policy as we go along.

Obama's War on Libya versus the Constitution.  By using the US Military to begin hostilities with a foreign nation without a Congressional declaration of war, Barack Obama has committed a serious violation of the Constitution.  While he certainly is not the first to do so in regards to war powers, it's high time that he becomes the last.

Air Force spending $4 million a day for Libya war.  The Air Force secretary says the service has been spending about $4 million a day to keep 50 fighter jets and nearly 40 support aircraft in the Libya conflict, including the cost of munitions.

The Great Prevaricator.  After committing U.S. forces to combat in Libya, the administration rehearsed the message it would deliver to the American people 10 days later.  When you tell the truth, you don't have to practice anything.

Obama the comedian.  It's not every day, thank heavens, that Louis Farrakhan, Dennis Kucinich and I agree about anything, so imagine my surprise when we all thought that Obama was a moron for deciding to abide by the U.N.'s wishes in Libya.  While it's true that Muammar Gaddafi is a brutal tyrant, that's par for the course in the Arab world.  In fact, the only thing I've noticed that sets him apart from the norm is that he appears to be a transvestite.  So, why the heck are we looking to depose him?

President Obama's New Anti-American Secretary of State.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made it clear that she will not serve another term under President Obama.  Who can blame her?  She has become the face of a fecklessly reckless administration, a pathetic press relations lackey for the worst foreign affairs president in the history of the country.

Non-Breaking News.  What with all the budget talk, I was just wondering whether that third war — or kinetic scope-limited whachamacallit — was still going.  You remember, it was in all the papers for a couple of days.  So I guess things have gone quiet because it's all wrapped up now?  Apparently not.

Was Obama Stampeded Into War?  On March 26, over a week after he ordered the strikes on Libya, hitting tanks, anti-aircraft, radar sites, troops and Gadhafi's own compound in Tripoli, 600 miles away from Benghazi, Obama told the nation he had acted to prevent a "bloodbath" in Benghazi.

Why Not Go to War with Mexico Instead of Libya?  I have no idea why U.S. Armed Forces are in Libya, or why anyone would think that such a thing is a good idea. ... Did the Libyans attack us or directly threaten our national security?  Would the rebels fighting the Libyan government be an improvement over the current government?  Why are some people suggesting that we might send additional American ground forces into Libya?  Is it somehow better for U.S. Servicemen to die for Libyan "freedom" instead of Libyans?  Didn't our Founding Fathers warn us about becoming involved in foreign conflicts?

A War Gone Missing.  I'm hoping someone can help me.  I left on vacation last week, and when I got back, an entire war was missing.  I've looked for it on all the major networks and cable outlets (excepting Fox News), as well as all the major newspapers.  Although I've found hints that it still exists somewhere, President Obama's Libyan War is officially missing in action.

Nato mission in disarray as criticisms mount.  The international mission in Libya appeared to be running out of momentum yesterday as Barack Obama admitted the situation on the ground had reached a military "stalemate" and France conceded a new UN resolution might be necessary to oust Muammar Gaddafi from power.

Obama's War in Libya is Illegal and Unconstitutional.  What the media are missing is the fact that Obama's war on Libya has no basis in law or the U.S. Constitution.  He has decided to wage this war on his own with the authorization of the United Nations, not the U.S. Congress. ... The President has no such "authorization" from Congress and consultation with Congress is not sufficient under the Constitution.  This announcement followed a February 25 executive order declaring Libya "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," which is ludicrous on its face.  Obama then declared "a national emergency to deal with that threat."  All of this happened without any critical comment from the media.

The Libyan intervention is not wholly legal.  Is President Obama's war against the Libyan government legal?  It is arguably compliant with modern international law, because it has been authorized by the United Nations Security Council.  Nothing in international law, however, can change the United States Constitution's procedures for when the United States can go to war — which require the consent of Congress.

Why the Libyan war is unconstitutional.  The question of the constitutionality of the Libyan effort depends on the original public meaning of Article I, section 8 of the Constitution.  Vice President (then Senator) Joseph Biden recalled that meaning in a speech on the Senate floor on July 30, 1998. ... Biden pointed out that only one framer, Pierce Butler of South Carolina, thought the president should have the power to initiate war.  Biden concluded that under the Constitution, the president could not use force without prior authorization unless it was necessary to "repel a sudden attack."  Presidential candidate Barack Obama agreed in 2007.

Are We Allied to a Corpse?  Of our Libyan intervention, one thing may be safely said, and another safely predicted.  When he launched his strikes on the Libyan army and regime, Barack Obama did not think it through.  And this nation is now likely to be drawn even deeper into that war.  For Moammar Gadhafi's forces not only survived the U.S. air and missile strikes, after which we turned the air war over to NATO, his forces have since shown themselves superior to the rebels.  Without NATO, the rebels would have been routed a month ago.

During the Viet Nam war, this was called Escalation:
 Obama OKs use of armed drones in Libya.  President Obama has approved the use of armed drones in Libya, authorizing U.S. airstrikes on ground forces for the first time since America turned over control of the operation to NATO on April 4.  It also is the first time that drones will be used for airstrikes since the conflict began on March 19, although they have routinely been flying surveillance missions, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Thursday [4/21/2011].

Obama's quagmire.  Opponents of the Vietnam War — that seemingly endless, inconclusive, increasingly unpopular and ever-more-deadly and costly conflict — called it a "quagmire."  They said it was unwinnable and should never have been fought — and that America must avoid similar future wars.  Today, our real risk of "quagmire" is Libya.

U.S. Intervention In Libya Aids the Jihad.  Barack Obama has committed American lives to building an Islamic state in Libya.  In making their case for U.S. intervention in Libya, conservatives who support the action generally acknowledge that the biggest problem with it is what may come after Gaddafi.  However, they then dismiss this concern by minimizing the presence of jihadists and Islamic supremacists among the Libyan rebels, and pointing to a U.S. intelligence study that purportedly shows that there is no significant presence of jihadists among the rebels.  Unfortunately, that's not really true.

Obama authorizes Predator drone strikes in Libya.  Libyan rebels welcomed President Obama's deployment of armed Predator drones and received praise from their most prominent U.S. visitor Friday [4/22/2011], as they expressed hope that increased American support would help turn the tide in a conflict that the top U.S. military officer acknowledged is becoming deadlocked.

Are We Losing In Libya?  When the U.S. goes to war, it must always be with crystal-clear objectives, plus an ironclad commitment to winning.  In Libya, our objectives are muddled while our resolution is in doubt.

Unwelcome Surprises in Libya.  Is it too early to declare our intervention in Libya a failure?  More than a month after we started bombing, the insurgency has suffered a string of defeats.  The government in Tripoli suddenly looks as permanent as the Sahara.  The U.S., after handing off the combat responsibilities to other countries, got pulled back in last week to launch drone attacks.  Britain and France are sending military advisers to try to turn the rebels into a semblance of a real army.

The Embarrassed Superpower.  When Barack Obama said he'd conduct our affairs with more humility, little did we know he meant he'd humiliate us.  He is allowing a vicious little tin-pot dictator to fight us to a standstill in Libya without bestirring himself to do much of anything about it.  His latest initiative is to fly two unmanned drones over Libya to send a signal to Moammar Qaddafi about our seriousness.  He must have thought sending three unmanned drones — strong letter to follow — would have been unduly harsh.

Obama orders $25 million in aid to Libyan rebels.  US President Barack Obama on Tuesday formally ordered a drawdown of $25 million in urgent, non-lethal American aid to Libyan rebels fighting Moamer Kadhafi.

President Obama's Use of our Military Forces in Libya is Unconstitutional.  The declaring of war is exclusively given to Congress under Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution.  Declaration of war is a requirement and a duty of Congress, and it cannot change our Constitution by delegating this duty, or any part of it, to the President.  It is Congress who must consider and weigh the circumstances, and make a decision on whether or not to engage in a war.  On the other hand, I do not see where it makes any constitutional difference whether the military action is called a war, or a police action or something else as in the cases of the Korean, Afghan, and Iraq wars; as long as Congress gives its approval.

Bombing Libya Without Congressional Approval.  If a recent report by The New York Times is accurate, the Obama administration is attempting to figure out a way to continue bombing Libya without the Congressional approval required by the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

A Breathtaking Work of Staggering Amateurishness.  For weeks the administration has attempted to answer why they have involved the United States in Libya but not Syria.  And it has yet to offer a coherent explanation.  What we're seeing are the (severe) limitations of an administration that prides itself on defying traditional categories and ideologies.

Is President Obama About to Break the Law?  From the beginning of the U.S. military intervention in Libya, the Obama administration has cited the 1973 War Powers Act as the legal basis of its ability to conduct military activities for 60 days without first seeking a declaration of war from Congress.  The military intervention started on March 19; Congress was notified on March 21.  Those 60 days expire tomorrow [5/20/2011].

A Libyan Quagmire?  The botched and confused handling of the conflict in Libya has been a stunning example of President Obama's leadership style, and of the media's continued determination to ignore or gloss over anything that makes him look weak, incompetent or indecisive.  What started out as a humanitarian mission to protect the civilian population of Benghazi, Libya, soon evolved into a stalemate.

Obama's next war.  Mr. Obama is in the process of losing the two wars he inherited and making a hash of the one he initiated in Libya.  Worse, Mr. Obama is actively encouraging trends that threaten to unleash the next horrific regional war in the Middle East — a war that may well embroil nations far beyond, including ours.

Now he tells us.  The hypocrisy is astounding.  The good little liberals in Congress who challenged every deployment of American troops since the Libyan bombing under Reagan has suddenly discovered that the War Powers Act doesn't apply?

Has Obama Breached His Constitutional Power in Libya?  The 1973 War Powers Resolution compels presidents to secure congressional approval within 60 days of U.S. military forces' "imminent involvement" or "introduction" into "hostilities."  U.S. operations in Libya violated that deadline on Friday [5/20/2011].  Congressional leaders barely shrugged.  The chattering class is quiet.  President Obama, a former constitutional law professor, wrote a letter late Friday denying the War Powers Act applies to the current situation.

Excited by power, Obama ignores legal restraints.  President Obama launched a U.S. war in Libya two months ago with no congressional approval.  Under the Constitution and under the War Powers Act, which allows the president to wage defensive wars for up to 60 days without prior approval, Obama probably broke the law.  Now that 60 days have passed since the United States joined the hostilities, Obama's war is more clearly illegal.  But nobody should expect this to matter to a president with a long record of disregarding legal and constitutional limits on presidential and federal power.

Illegal War? Congress Doesn't Care.  Remember when President Obama assured us his Libyan adventure would be over in "days, not weeks"?  To employ a Clinton-era euphemism, "That statement is no longer operative."  (Translation:  I lied.)  On Friday the 60-day clock ran out, leaving Obama in clear violation of the War Powers Resolution, passed in 1973 to "fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution ... [and] insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities."

George Will wonders why liberals aren't 'clamoring' for Obama's impeachment.  It's been 66 days since President Barack Obama authorized military action against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.  However, last Friday marked an important date, signaling Congress most authorize the military action or U.S. forces will be required to withdraw in accordance with the War Powers Resolution.  But that date passed with little fanfare, especially from a Democratic Party in Congress that was very vocal about former President George W. Bush's incursion into Iraq.

Quagmire!  Quagmire!
 Obama Warns of a Long Slog in Libya.  U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that military operations in Libya will be a long slog that continues until Col. Moammar Gadhafi leaves power, a shift from the president's initial stance that the military intervention in Libya would be limited in nature.

House to vote next week on ending U.S. involvement in Libya.  The already-contentious congressional debate over the U.S. intervention in Libya is about to get even more heated.  The House will vote next week on a measure calling on President Obama to end U.S. military involvement in Libya, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-Va.) office announced Friday evening [5/27/2011].

Libya: A War Fit for a King.  Remember back in your high school civics class, when you were taught about the constitutional division of authority in matters of war?  When you learned that the president has all the powers of an emperor, and Congress has all the powers of a potted plant?  Neither do I.  But the people occupying high office in Washington went to a different school.  They have done their best to prove that when it comes to using military force, neither the law nor the Constitution means a thing.

Congress Has War Powers, Too.  Which is worse:  bad leadership or no leadership?  That's a question for a Congress that remains AWOL while young Americans continue to be placed in harm's way in military missions increasingly divorced from American national interests.  Like developments in Afghanistan and Iraq that cry out for a public examination of what U.S. forces are doing overseas, President Obama's incoherent war in Libya brings increasing urgency to the question.

Speaker Boehner Throws Down the War Powers Act Gauntlet On Libya.  House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is throwing what one Republican calls "a legal and political hot potato at the President."  In a resolution to be voted on in the House tomorrow [6/3/2011], Boehner is giving the president two weeks — until the Pentagon Appropriations bill comes up — to either: a) Ask for authorization for the military intervention in Libya, or b) Figure out how to disengage the US from the NATO operation in Libya.

Obama's nonwar in Libya.  The White House has finally forged a bipartisan consensus in Congress. Unfortunately for President Obama, lawmakers are uniting in opposition to his approach to the ongoing U.S. involvement in the Libyan civil war.  Some see the operation as an ill-advised and useless military venture; others argue that Mr. Obama is breaking the law.

House scolds Obama on Libya; dozens of Dems join.  The House harshly scolded President Barack Obama on Friday [6/3/2011] for launching U.S. military forces against Libya without congressional approval, fiercely disputing constitutional powers and flashing bipartisan frustration over a nearly three-month-old conflict with no end in sight.

Showdown Over Libya.  In a toughly worded resolution which the House will vote on Friday, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is demanding that President Obama either seek congressional authorization to continue US involvement in the NATO-led Libyan operation or determine the best way to withdraw from the conflict.

House rebukes Obama on Libya mission, but does not demand withdrawal.  The House on Friday [6/3/2011] rebuked President Obama for failing "to provide Congress with a compelling rationale" for the military campaign in Libya but stopped short of demanding he withdraw U.S. forces from the fight.  By a vote of 268 to 145, the House approved a resolution that criticized Obama for not seeking congressional authorization for the 76-day-old campaign against Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

Dithering and Caving.  Many knowledgeable people are now saying that Obama-Soetoro's refusal to comply with the War Powers Act is an impeachable offense.  Not among this group is the Republican "leadership" who are far too busy deciding whether to dither or cave on the issue.

Congress must place a check on executive war-making.  The United States of America is in a constitutional crisis.  Will Congress regain the sole authority to initiate war as specified by the Constitution, or will the executive branch continue to assume that right for itself?  At issue is the war in Libya.  The 1973 War Powers Resolution (WPR) gave President Obama 60 days in which to obtain a congressional authorization for his action in Libya.  The deadline was May 20.

War-powers crisis.  Last Friday's House of Representatives vote on President Obama's Libya policy was characterized widely as reflecting bipartisan dissatisfaction with Mr. Obama's failure to consult with Congress.  There was indeed ample Capitol Hill disagreement with his handling of Libya — for a variety of reasons — but the real story is even more troubling.

Getting Serious About War Powers.  Whether you back military action against Libya's Moammar Gadhafi or not, it's troubling that President Obama refuses to seek Congress' support for the conflict there.  It shows an unhealthy contempt for the law.

Obama's Undeclared War on America.  Republican US House Speaker John Boehner, and US Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking minority member Richard Lugar, are both obsessed with bringing President Obama to account under the War Powers Act for his intervention in Libya.  Libya is typical of Obama's foreign policy:  timid, tardy, aloof, and counterproductive.  Accordingly, the outcome from Obama's Libyan humanitarian adventure has been predictable, needlessly adding over $1 billion to the US federal deficit while emboldening a stalemate benefitting Gaddafi, who continues to inflict civilian casualties with impunity.

Boehner says House could move to cut off funding for Libya.  Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday [6/16/2011] said the Obama administration failed to answer all his questions about the U.S. mission in Libya and raised the possibility that the House would move to cut off funding for the operation.  In response to demands from the House, the administration released a 32-page report arguing that the Libya mission does not need congressional authorization because the U.S. military engagement there doesn't amount to "hostilities."  Boehner said that explanation doesn't fly with him.

Obama's unauthorized war on Libya costs $9,421,000 a day.  The Obama administration is spending almost $9.5 million every single day to blow things up in Libya because the president has determined that is in the country's national interest, this country's national interest, not Libya's.  You may not have noticed the $392,542 flowing out of the national treasury every hour, day and night, since those first $1.5 million Tomahawks flashed from the launch tubes back on March 19.  But Libya's dictator Moammar Kadafi has.

Obama's unconstitutional Libyan war.  President Obama's decision to involve U.S. military forces in an unconstitutional, unexplained mission in Libya has left many Americans seeking answers and action from Congress.  Why has Mr. Obama ignored the public and congressional questions regarding his actions?  Why did he thrust our American soldiers into this battle without the consent of Congress?

Obama administration: Libya action does not require congressional approval.  The Obama administration argued Wednesday [6/15/2011] that its nearly three-month-old military involvement in Libya does not require congressional approval because of the supporting role most U.S. forces are playing there, a position that puts it at odds with some Republican leaders and the antiwar wing of its own party.

'Nothing More Impeachable' Than War Without Authorization, Says Constitutional Scholar.  Louis Fisher, a scholar in residence at the Constitution Project who served for 40 years as a constitutional law expert at the Library of Congress, says Americans and members of Congress should understand that President Barack Obama committed a "very grave offense" against the Constitution in taking military action in Libya without congressional authorization.

Lawmakers sue President Obama over Libya.  A bipartisan group of House members announced on Wednesday [6/15/2011] that it is filing a lawsuit charging that President Obama made an illegal end-run around Congress when he approved U.S military action against Libya.

Why I'm suing the Obama administration over Libya.  Our Founders understood that waging war is not something that should be taken lightly, which is why Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution gives Congress — not the president — the authority to declare war.  This was meant to be an important check on presidential power.  The last thing the Founders wanted was an out-of-control executive branch engaging in unnecessary and unpopular wars without so much as a Congressional debate.  Unfortunately, that's exactly the situation we have today in Libya.

Pelosi: Obama Doesn't Need Congressional Authorization for Libya Action.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she is "very protective of congressional prerogative" regarding military action but believes that President Barack Obama did not need Congress' authorization to take action against Libya and does not need it today to continue with the operation.

Obama, the new Caesar.  President Obama has crossed the Rubicon.  He now believes -- and acts -- as if he is above the law; the Constitution no longer applies to him.  This is the real meaning behind the U.S. military intervention in Libya.  Mr. Obama is abrogating the linchpin of our democracy:  the rule of law.

If there's no war, why do troops get combat pay?  The White House sent a 38-page report to Congress on Wednesday [6/15/2011] attempting to explain why the president had the authority to continue military operations against Libya without congressional approval as mandated under the War Powers Resolution.  The Obama administration's argument is both legally suspect and politically unfathomable.

The Hypocrisy of Politicians.  If George W. Bush were still in office, you could imagine calls for his impeachment for rejecting the advice of the Pentagon general counsel and the head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, both of whom told him our intervention in Libya met the definition of "hostilities" under the War Powers Act.

Turner: Obama's actions in Libya violate War Act Powers.  Rep. Mike Turner said last week that he is unsatisfied with President Barack Obama's report to Congress on Libya.  Obama last week asserted that he does not need congressional authorization for the military operation in Libya.  Critics, including Turner, have said that U.S. involvement in Libya violates the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which requires presidents to obtain Congress' authorization when inserting U.S. forces into hostilities.

Time for government attorneys to stand up to Obama.  The Left must be caught somewhere between astonished and repulsed.  Their guy has gone full Nixon, and is doing a thing in a war that W wouldn't have dreamed of doing, which is to simply ignore the legal opinions of the Department of Justice.  And on the cherished War Powers Act no less!  Imagine the reaction if George W. Bush were told "no" by the Department of Justice on an issue of the law of war but went ahead anyway on the advice of a friendly lawyer he found elsewhere in the government.

Obama is flouting the War Powers Resolution.  Overruling two of his senior legal advisers — the Pentagon's general counsel and the acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel — President Obama has decided that the U.S. is not engaged in "hostilities" in Libya.  Obama has effectively nullified the War Powers Resolution (WPR), which requires the president to end hostilities within 60 days (with another 30 days to withdraw troops) unless he has received Congress's authorization.  In the Libyan war, the deadline for receiving Congressional approval or standing down passed on Friday [6/17/2011].  President Obama has done nothing to win Congress's approval.

Obama's foolish legal approach to Libya.  If George W. Bush had ignored the views of his Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to avoid complying with the War Powers Resolution, Democrats would be going berserk.  Barack Obama, I suspect, would be going berserk.

Don't mention Obama's war that isn't a war.  Having represented himself as a dove, Obama has embraced the position that presidents have unilateral authority to engage in low-intensity conflicts that have no bearing whatsoever on American interests.  He ignored the constitutional requirement for congressional approval of his war, and then he ignored this week's statutory deadline for either obtaining congressional approval or withdrawing.  His position, outlined in great detail, is far more hawkish than that of President George W. Bush, who started two wars but only after extensive consultation and bipartisan congressional votes.

Libya testing limits of '73 law.  American unmanned aerial vehicles are making surgical strikes on Libyan targets, and U.S. forces have expended $400 million worth of munitions in defending the rebellion against Col. Moammar Gadhafi's forces, but the administration says that doesn't mean the country is at war — at least not for the purposes of the 1973 War Powers Resolution.

Libya and America's Commitment Problem.  If Muammar Gadhafi is left in power, he will pick up where he left off and finish the slaughter we said we started this war to prevent, and he'll likely return to his international terrorist ways.  The spectacle of a U.S.-NATO humiliation will echo around the region and the world.

When Is a War Not a War? When President Obama Says So.  The expected showdown between the president and Congress over the War Powers Act took a strange and exotic turn on Wednesday [6/15/2011] when the administration claimed that it was not engaged in a war in Libya, and had not been involved in hostilities since April 7.  The State Department's legal advisor, Harold Koh, claimed in an interview with the New York Times that "the limited nature of this particular mission is not the kind of 'hostilities' envisioned by the War Powers Resolution."

Obama's aggravation with Congress over Libya on display.  Both in remarks the president made during his address on Afghanistan Wednesday night and in comments made by senior administration officials, the White House is losing patience with Congress.

A New Understanding Of War Powers.  Is the Libya war legal?  Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, it is not.  President Obama has exceeded the 90-day period to receive retroactive authorization from Congress.  But things are not so simple.

Whose Side Are You On, Hillary?  Our secretary of state questions the patriotism of those criticizing the administration's Libyan policy and disregard of the War Powers Act.  Remember when dissent was the highest form of patriotism?

House rejects measure backing Libya mission.  The Republican-controlled House of Representatives delivered a mixed message on America's role in the NATO-led Libya campaign Friday, opposing a resolution expressing support for the war while also voting down a bill restricting American involvement in the conflict.

Liberal Columnist Admits, Obama Could Be Impeached Over Libya.  Although a liberal himself, influential columnist Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com has been consistent in saying Barack Obama is violating the Constitution with his undeclared war in Libya.  Greenwald is interviewed by Amy Goodman, the producer of the far-Left radio and television "news" program "Democracy Now!"

President Obama Rejects Justice Department's War Powers Interpretation.  When the White House announced last week that it would not comply with the requirements of the War Powers Resolution because the Libya operation does not involve "hostilities," eyebrows arched in curiosity.  Many observers questioned the administration's conclusion that America's involvement in the Libya operation no longer fit within the statute's term "hostilities."

Anti-war left steps up against Obama.  An important 2008 campaign coalition for the president is not happy with his actions in Libya and it could very well cost him politically in 2012.

The Man Who Would Be King.  America is in a constitutional crisis.  A sitting president consistently exercises power not granted to him by the U.S. Constitution, and he does so capriciously, defying the attempts of other branches — given the responsibility to check the executive branch — to restrain his excess.  The banks, the manufacturing sector, the health care sector, and now the energy sector are all under the de facto control of this determined and brazen individual.  But while U.S. government involvement in the private sector is alarming ... abuse of war-making authority is another matter entirely.  The man who makes war without the approval of elected legislators is no longer a president, but a king.

Our Lawless President?  [Scroll down]  Second, Obama has chosen to flout the War Powers Act with respect to the "kinetic activity" in Libya.  The War Powers Act may be constitutionally dubious (I think so), but it is nevertheless the law of the land, and should be obeyed or directly challenged -- not ignored or rendered inoperable by fancy faculty room semantics.

Libya war may be justified, but that doesn't make it legal.  No one is defending Muammar Gaddafi.  As I've written here previously, Gaddafi is a despicable tyrant who deserves the justice I hope he soon receives.  But a worthy goal doesn't mean President Obama can violate the War Powers Resolution and not be held accountable.

Lawmakers agree Obama botched Libya action.  Nearly everyone in Congress says President Obama has mishandled the war in Libya, but that's as far as the consensus goes — members of the Senate and, in particular, the House have struggled to find unity on ways to rein in his actions.  In the lower chamber, lawmakers have voted on at least three options:  endorse the war, limit it to a true supporting role for NATO or end it outright.  None has gained a majority.

Obama and NATO Turn Libya, and a $30B Check, Over to Jihadists.  How would Americans feel if they knew the Obama administration just agreed to hand people affiliated with a designated terrorist group a $30 billion dollar check and recognize them as the legitimate rulers of Libya?

Obama's Libya Missteps Imperil NATO's Future.  While the outcome of NATO's intervention in Libya is still uncertain, the ongoing drift toward a negotiated solution is fraught with potentially debilitating problems for the Western alliance.  Ousting Qaddafi remains a possibility, and could have been achieved much earlier with swift and decisive action, but the prospects for a clear NATO victory are now quite uncertain.

Can victory make an illegal war legal?  President Obama injected the U.S. military into Libya's civil war without ever seeking congressional approval, or leading a public debate.  To square this clearly illegal action with the law and his previous statements about presidential war powers, his lawyers (who, like Obama, had fiercely attacked Bush's overreaches on war) argued that our air strikes in Libya did not count as "hostilities" as defined by the law.

"Non-Hostilities" in Libya Now Includes Boots on Ground.  Barack Obama's growing legacy of high crimes and misdemeanors now includes American military troops on the ground in the fiasco that was supposed to last "days, not weeks" and which is now in its sixth month.

Tears for the Constitution, not Qaddafi.  It remains worth noting that President Obama started his non-war war under false pretenses.  Qaddafi was a nasty guy.  But there were no civilian massacres.  The entire humanitarian claim was a fraud, a PR gloss for a slow-motion attempt at regime change which actually lengthened the Libyan civil war and made it much more deadly.  That is, the administration's policy killed more Libyans.

Flying proudly over the birthplace of Libya's revolution, the flag of Al Qaeda.  The black flag of Al Qaeda was hoisted in Libya yesterday as Nato formally ended its military campaign.  The standard fluttered from the roof of the courthouse in Benghazi, where the country's new rulers have imposed sharia law since seizing power.  Seen as the seat of the revolution, the judicial building was used by rebel forces to establish their provisional government and media centre.

Libya: Flying Al Qaeda Flag, Rumored To Be Imposing Shariah Law.  The UK Daily Mail is reporting that the flag of Al Qaeda has been spotted flying above the Libyan courthouse. ... Here is the problem that most people don't seem to want to face:  revolution in many countries, even when the language is right, can bring about a regime just as dangerous as the one previously in charge (see Revolution: French).  This problem has been painfully obvious for months.

Remember Lockerbie.  It seems BP and the Libyan government had a big oil deal going a couple of years ago, and Mr. Megrahi's presence was urgently requested in Tripoli.  He was released without further ceremony and whisked home by chartered jet.  Connections count.  As for the survivors of those killed in the crash of Pan Am 103, their opinions didn't.  That's where things stood when history, aka the Arab Spring, caught up with the old established firm of M. Gadhafi and Sons.

Obama's Top Boners of 2011.  [#2] Libya:  Nothing cried hypocrisy more than Obama's decision to start a time-limited, scope-limited kinetic military activity — whatever that is — in Libya over European oil.  Up to that point, progressives supported him.

More "Flickers" of al-Qaeda Detected In Libya.  You don't hear much about Libya in the news these days.  Our beloved President shredded the War Powers Act in order to unilaterally launch a military operation there, which lasted far, far longer than any of his original estimates.  This came to a head with the violent execution of drape-rod dictator Moammar Qaddafi, who (in my estimation) really had it coming, and was more dangerous in his dotage than some analysts believed.

The Top 5 Reasons Obama Must Be Removed as Commander-in-Chief.  [#4] Waging War Against Libya Without Congressional Approval:  Obama's handlers dreamed up a catchy new doctrine called Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and they were itching to try it out. ... Flagrantly flouting the War Powers Resolution, Obama spent a billion dollars to wage an unconstitutional war.  The grand result is Al Qaeda's flag waving over Benghazi and 20,000 anti-aircraft missiles missing, which will probably wind up blasting towards us.

Why Obama's National Security Record Is Weak and Dangerous:  [Scroll down]  Then there's Libya, which maintains a fragile peace.  Gaddafi's brutal assault against his own people lasted a lot longer than necessary.  Many lives were lost by the time Obama made up his mind and offered the rebels assistance.  Why did he take so long?  Was it because he waited until he thought the situation was politically expedient or because public opinion had turned against him in favor of the rebels?  This is yet another example of him leading from behind.

The War in Yemen

After the attack on the USS Cole, I have to admit I'm not greatly concerned about bad things happening to Yemen.  Nevertheless, this is starting to look like another undeclared war.  Haven't we had enough of those already?

Our secret war in Yemen.  The extent of America's war in Yemen has been among the Obama administration's most closely guarded secrets, as officials worried that news of unilateral American operations could undermine Mr. Saleh's tenuous grip on power.  Mr. Saleh authorized American missions in Yemen in 2009, but placed limits on their scope and has said publicly that all military operations had been conducted by his own troops.

America's Looming Quagmire in Yemen.  The Obama administration is risking a fourth war in the Muslim world, escalating covert air attacks in Yemen.  The danger of being trapped in an endless, costly, bloody quagmire should worry every American.  The political dynamics of Yemen are poorly understood, and the administration risks being manipulated and exploited by forces it at best dimly comprehends.

Obama Fumbles Yemen.  By thwarting regime change in Yemen, the United States risks empowering al-Qaeda and alienating a nation.

Obama's escalating war in Yemen.  The Obama administration has in recent months intensified its bombing campaign in the unstable Gulf nation of Yemen, where Islamic militants have been the target of U.S. airstrikes for several years.  Just this month, a U.S. drone strike against militants in southern Yemen reportedly killed at least 50 people — many of them civilians.

"The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."

— Senator Barack Obama, Dec. 20, 2007    
in an interview interview with the Boston Globe    
Sources:  [1] [2]    


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