President Obama's Defense on U.S. Airstrikes Against Libya

Obama: 'History is Not on Qaddafi's Side' - FoxBusiness.com

President Obama Explains U.S. Mission in Libya



(USA Today March 29, 2011) President Obama cast U.S. military intervention in Libya in stark strategic and humanitarian terms Monday, saying he would not stand by while the democratic aspirations spreading across the Middle East were "eclipsed by the darkest form of dictatorship" at the hands of a murderous Moammar Gadhafi.  President Obama gave his first address to the nation since he authorized a military air-cover and bombing campaign to shield the Libyan people and rebel forces from Gadhafi's troops and weapons.  Obama told the nation that it would relinquish its role when NATO takes over.  He pushed back against critics on the left and right who question his March 19 decision to commit the nation's already taxed military to a third Muslim country.  "To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and, more profoundly, our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are," Obama said in a speech before officers at the National Defense University.  "Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries.  The United States of America is different...I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action. 

Obama also pushed back against those who say he should broaden the mission, which was narrowly defined by a United Nations resolution to protect the Libyan people.  It is his administration's stated position that Gadhafi must go--but getting rid of him is up to the Libyan people, Obama said. "To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq," Obama said, Regime change there took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives and nearly a trillion dollars.  That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya." 

The public appears to be conflicted concerning whether the U.S. should involve itself militarily with Libya.  A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds the public evenly split--44% each approve and disapprove--over how Obama is handling the situation.  The poll of 1027 adults was taken Friday-Sunday and has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points.  Obama didn't say when or how the military operation in Libya will end.

I'm really concerned about the United States involving itself in another military engagement for the simple fact the United States still has troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  Both of those wars were botched as far as I'm concerned.  What's the strategy for Libya?  What's the purpose?  What about other countries with evil dictators such as Syria, Yemen, or the Sudan?  How does Libya fit into the United States' special interests?  I know most of Libya's economy is their oil, but the United States doesn't benefit from their oil.  I recall the farewell address the late president Dwight David Eisenhower made on January 17, 1961 when he stated that we needed to beware of the military industrial complex.  The Middle East is already on fire.  Removing some of these dictators in the Middle East could create a vacuum where radical militant Islamists take control like they did in Iran in 1979.  I'm concerned that some religious figure from the Muslim Brotherhood could take control and if that happens, then the world is headed for trouble.  Who will replace Gadhafi if he's ousted?  Could it be someone much worse, someone who desires to establish a Muslim Caliphate?  Could it be someone who desires to spread Islam and Sharia Law throughout the world?  You never know.