I pray that this no-fly zone works fast and painless. We have lost a lot of momentum in Lybia waiting for the UN to quiz themselves.
The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution Thursday evening authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya and other measures military action against Libya.
The vote was 10-0 with five abstentions, including Russia and China.Congressional officials, speaking after a briefing for members of the Senates, aid they expected the effort to enforce a no-fly zone and ground Muammar al-Qaddafi's air force could begin within a few days.
it is a great post^_^
ReplyDeleteSo sad to think of the lives lost while Hussein dithered. Palin was calling for this three weeks ago. Why is this a-hole President afraid of doing anything? Unless it means taking away the freedoms of American citizens (Obamacare, extending Patriot Act) or suing states trying to stem the tide of illegal immigrants, or destroying 20,000 jobs (and counting) with oil-drilling moratoriums, or stepping into Wisconsin's business, or calling a Boston cop's actions "stupid" ... then he's Mr. Bigstuff. Hope his NCAA picks went great, I know he put a lot of time into it.
ReplyDeleteI think that with a majority of Europe getting involved that a no-fly zone would be less risky as far as being sucked into a ground attack then if we had acted when Palin would have acted.
ReplyDeleteWith the lousy track record of involvement in the middle east and Afghanistan by the US since their respective invasions i am loathe to go it alone again. Perhaps this time we won't be pulled into peacekeeping.
Just wonder how many lifes were lost while all Nations that should have stepped up did nothing. Our Nation has now lowered itself to United Nation Releventcy. People dieing is not as important as a good debate and vote. How many days were lost how many innocents died. Pretty sure NO Fly Zone did not require troops.
ReplyDeleteINEFFECTUAL, invisible, unable to honour pledges and now blamed for letting Gaddafi off the hook. Why Obama’s gone from ‘Yes we can’ to ‘Er, maybe we shouldn’t’...
ReplyDeleteLet us cast our minds back to those remarkable days in November 2008 when the son of a Kenyan goatherd was elected to the White House. It was a bright new dawn – even brighter than the coming of the Kennedys and their new Camelot. JFK may be considered as being from an ethnic and religious minority – Irish and Catholic – but he was still very rich and very white. Barack Obama, by contrast, was a true breakthrough president. The world would change because obviously America had changed.
Obama’s campaign slogan was mesmerisingly simple and brimming with self-belief: “Yes we can.” His presidency, however, is turning out to be more about “no we won’t.” Even more worryingly, it seems to be very much about: “Maybe we can… do what, exactly?“ The world feels like a dangerous place when leaders are seen to lack certitude but the only thing President Obama seems decisive about is his indecision. What should the US do about Libya? What should the US do about the Middle East in general? What about the country’s crippling debts? What is the US going to do about Afghanistan, about Iran?
What is President Obama doing about anything? The most alarming answer – your guess is as good as mine – is also, frankly, the most accurate one. What the President is not doing is being clear, resolute and pro-active, which is surely a big part of his job description. This is what he has to say about the popular uprising in Libya: “Gaddafi must go.” At least, that was his position on March 3.
Since then, other countries – most notably Britain and France – have been calling for some kind of intervention. Even the Arab League, a notoriously conservative organisation, has declared support for sanctions. But from the White House has come only the blah-blah of bland statements filled with meaningless expressions and vague phrases. Of decisive action and leadership – even of clearlydefined opinion – there is precious little sign.
What is the Obama administration’s position on the protests in the Gulf island state of Bahrain, which the authorities there are savagely suppressing with the help of troops shipped in from Saudi Arabia? What is the White House view on the alarming prospect of the unrest spreading to Saudi Arabia itself? Who knows? Certainly not the American people, nor the leaders of nations which would consider themselves allies of America.
The President has not really shared his views, which leads us to conclude that he either doesn’t know or chooses, for reasons best known to himself, not to say. The result is that a very real opportunity to remove an unpredictable despot from power may well have been lost. Who knows when or if such an opportunity will come along again?
Every day for almost the last two months our television screens, radio broadcasts and the pages of our newspapers have been filled with the pictures, sounds and words of the most tumultuous events any of us can remember in the Arab world. The outcome of these events, once the dust has settled, could literally change the world. Yet Obama seems content to sit this one out. He has barely engaged in the debate. Such ostrich-like behaviour is not untypical of the 49-year-old President who burst through America’s colour barrier to become the first African-American to occupy the White House.