Didn't last.
"Obama vows aid, warns against reprisals" by Donovan Slack, Globe Staff / August 23, 2011
TISBURY - Obama’s statement on the Blue Heron Farm lawn yesterday provided a positive diversion from the political and economic problems besetting his administration....
I have to tell you, readers, I am really starting to wonder about this whole what seems to be staged and scripted production. That's all TV is, isn't it? All of it. Is it really breaking news?
The erosion of Khadafy’s regime provides a measure of vindication for the president and others who supported his approach of airstrikes on regime forces, including Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, an early and outspoken advocate of the strategy.
From Vietnam protester to lead war hawk, sigh.
Some fellow Democrats had argued that Obama should not involve the United States in a civil war with no clear exit strategy. The president also was criticized by some Republican lawmakers, including John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who said he did not act forcefully enough.
Some GOP presidential candidates, meanwhile, who had voiced a range of criticism of the administration’s game plan yesterday applauded the rebel advances without endorsing US strategy.
“The world is about to be rid of Moammar Khadafy, the brutal tyrant that terrorized the Libyan people,’’ said former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who has asserted Obama did not act forcefully enough in Libya but who also raised questions in New Hampshire last month about Obama’s desire to oust Khadafy.
Five years ago Khadafy was an example to other tyrants, blah, blah, blah.
Although the situation remained volatile and uncertain yesterday, Khadafy’s removal from power would represent a second high-profile victory for the administration’s national security team.
That certainly wasn't the impression I got from watching some of the TV news yesterday.
Three months ago, American Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in a daring raid on his Pakistan hideout....
When they keep whipping that lie every chance they get why should we believe a word of what I've read?
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"Rebels’ gains are hailed but detractors of US involvement remain" by Theo Emery, Globe Staff / August 23, 2011
WASHINGTON - The surge of jubilant rebels into Tripoli won at least one high-profile conversion of a skeptic of the Obama administration’s Libya policy, but some critics of US involvement remained unconvinced yesterday despite the rapid unraveling of Moammar Khadafy’s regime.
I count myself as one; however, I doubt my view will be expressed in this article.
L. Paul Bremer III, who led the early effort to secure and rebuild Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, said he had believed the United States would be unable to achieve the goal of regime change without a full-fledged commitment in Libya. Khadafy’s sudden predicament changed his thinking, he said.
That is what this was really all about, not all that humanitarian window-dressing.
“Once the administration said that its goal was to bring about regime change, at that point leading from behind and not putting our full effort into it was in my view contradictory,’’ he said. “We are where we are. He’s apparently gone.’’
Bremer’s comments came after a dizzying day of news in the nation where the optimism of the Arab Spring that swept through the Middle East seemed to have become mired in Libya’s armed uprising against Khadafy, who defiantly held onto power over the months since the rebellion’s start.
Skeptics from both the left and the right had warned of getting involved in yet another foreign conflict as the United States was trying to extricate itself from Iraq and Afghanistan. Some objected because it was unclear whether Libya was in the strategic interests of the United States; others objected because President Obama had not sought approval in Congress under the War Powers Resolution....
And others objected on the basis of another series of lies by the war government and its mouthpiece media.
Senator John F. Kerry, an early proponent of using the US military to protect Libyans, said the progress made by rebels showed that the administration was right....
(Blog editor's chin drops to chest as he realizes the media focus has once again been a big sales job)
Kerry’s view that the apparent end of Khadafy’s reign justifies the means was not universally shared.
What more can be said about Senator Kerry? Now you know what a fascist Democrat thinks.
One critic of the administration, Representative Allen West, a Florida Republican, used Twitter to make his skepticism known, writing from a trip to Israel that “I’m reserving my euphoria about the events in Libya.’’
Oh, he's one of the 81, huh?
Michael E. Capuano, Democrat of Somerville, also said his criticism of the administration remained unchanged. Capuano was among those in the House who helped vote down a resolution that Kerry sponsored with John McCain, Republican of Arizona, providing authorization for US military involvement.
Capuano had rejected the administration’s contention that it did not need to seek permission from Congress. The president argued that US involvement did not directly involve hostilities after the first few days of its engagement.
The events in Libya did nothing to change his mind. With the regime teetering, Capuano remained as opposed as ever to the administration’s use of military power.
That's about as close as they get to me.
“Now what?’’ Capuano said. “Where do we go tomorrow? Do we go to Syria tomorrow? Do we go to Iran after that? Where do we stop?’’
Syria in a couple weeks, about the same time as Iran.
Even some early backers of the US role in helping to create a no-fly zone over Libya - initially to protect citizens from aerial bombing by Libyan forces and later to aid the rebels in their advancement - had some criticism for the president. While applauding the rebels’ success yesterday, McCain chided Obama for not acting more decisively and aggressively in the conflict.
“Americans can be proud of the role our country has played in helping to defeat Khadafy, but we regret that this success was so long in coming due to the failure of the United States to employ the full weight of our airpower,’’ he said in a joint statement with Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican....
Guys like Graham and McCain like stomping around in Arab blood, don't they?
With the military conflict perhaps nearing its conclusion, the transition is likely to become the next source of debate, and some in Congress have begun to advocate for assisting a post-Khadafy Libya.
Perhaps?
It’s a question that could generate opposition in Congress, particularly in the House, where some conservative Republican and liberal Democrats have warned of the dangers of another long-term foreign commitment.
Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the coming weeks will be critical for Libya. He doubts there will be need for a large aid package for Libya, given its energy resources and the fact that it could soon have access to the billions in frozen overseas assets.
That is the SAME THING that was SAID ABOUT IRAQ!!!!
I think we ALL KNOW WHERE THI$ i$ going!
But it would be a mistake if Congress balks at providing what aid is needed, he said.
Yes, let's spend MORE TAX MONEY WE DO NOT HAVE for ANOTHER WAR and OCCUPATION!!
“We have a country that’s been wracked by dictatorship and exploitation and violence, the worst kinds of totalitarian control, and now it’s going to be free. Is the United States going to turn its back on that in terms of technical assistance?’’ he said. “I would find that shocking and contrary to our interests.’’
I find you the same, senator!
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Related: US Military Intervention in Libya Cost At Least $896 Million
And counting....
