“American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger.” – President George W. Bush, March 19, 2003
“Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people. And we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world.” – President Barack Obama, March 19, 2011
Military action in Libya may indeed be indicated, though if we were going to do this, seems like it could have been a couple of weeks ago. I’m sure several thousand dead freedom fighters would agree with that assessment.
(This delay is not symptomatic of Obama in way over his head, by the way. This is him carefully considering and moving with the utmost care, as is his tendency as an incredibly intelligent person.)
Look, I’m just not sure how I feel about a U.S. military campaign in Libya, and most of what gives me pause is embodied in the phrase “opening a third front in a predominantly Muslim country.”
I have leftie friends who are loving it, and saying so. I’m not horrified by that, but I do find it rather illustrative, and it’s something I intend to keep in mind when considering how I feel about future events. When you consider recent history, actions in the United Nations, the sociopolitical climate of the world, and so forth, I wonder just how much tortured logic it takes to support this action but denounce the invasion of Iraq. (Mind your hindsight. It’s tempting to look at that night eight years ago through an ex post facto prism.)
I used to play chess with this fellow named Bill who, between games, decried what he called “the Roll Tide mentality.” Ironically, he was mostly a liberal parrot. But I’ve often thought of that expression since, which he applied to supporters of a position just because a loud voice with a (D) or an (R) after his/her name was on board.
I’m not going to make any explicit trouble with my left-of-center friends who think this action against Libya is a good thing. However, I am carrying my observations of their behavior forward as a cautionary tale.
‘Cause I think there might be some “Roll Tide mentality” going on.
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I was wondering at our involvement with the coalition forces in this action against Libya. Did Obama go to congress for authorization? I definitely remember Bush making the case to congress for Iraq and getting the required permissions. Did I miss something? (Because, I have been on spring break, beaching, baseballing and reading lots of novels…)
The audacity of oblivion.
He had the international permission…plus France was in charge. Holy God what we have come to…
On another note…my child, who honestly scores in the 99th percentile…who had a 104 average in Geometry last semester (which is a 10th grade class, and she’s in 9th grade) had the following conversation with me:
Me to Jeff: I cannot believe that we’re now fighting on 3 war fronts after practically gutting defense spending
Mileena: What 3 war fronts?
Me: Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libiya
Mileena: Oh, I thought Afghanistan was in Iraq.
Sometimes her blonde shows.
Marianne, geography is shockingly, appallingly bad all over. That was a significant basis for Leno’s on-the-street routines, back when I actually watched him once in a while (before I considered him a classless bully).
I can’t recall a time when I didn’t have a decent grasp of both U.S. and world geography, thanks mostly to my conscientious parents. We’re trying to replicate that with the boys.
Stick a world map on that child’s bedroom wall! Have quizzes. $1 for a correct answer. -$5 for an incorrect one. 🙂