Obama's epic fail in Libya
Daniel Henninger argues that the failure of the international community to even formulate a response to Libya shows that 'internationalism' has collapsed. Barack Obama is the first Democratic president to assemble a foreign-policy team made up entirely of intellectuals who for years have developed a counter-thesis to the policies of presidents extending back to John F. Kennedy. We are in a "post-American world," they have argued, in which the U.S. is obliged to pursue its interests in concert with the rest of the world's powers, never alone.Read the whole thing. This crew cannot be gone soon enough.
The uprisings against autocracies in 10 separate Middle Eastern countries, a crisis inherited from no one, was their real-world test. In Egypt, they fumbled. In Libya, they have failed.
The poster boy for this internationalist view is White House deputy Ben Rhodes, who told a reporter last week: "This is the Obama conception of the U.S. role in the world—to work through multilateral organizations and bilateral relationships to make sure that the steps we are taking are amplified."
Days later, bemused Libyan rebel spokesman Essam Gheriani remarked in Benghazi: "Everyone here is puzzled as to how many casualties the international community judges to be enough for them to help. Maybe we should start committing suicide to reach the required number."
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This was a test case, and what we have seen is that a world in which the U.S. doesn't unmistakably lead is a world that spins its wheels, and eventually the wheels start to come off. When the U.S. instructs the Saudis not to intervene in Bahrain, and the Saudi army does precisely the opposite, the wheels are coming off the international order.
Labels: American exceptionalism, Barack Hussein Obama, Libyan civil war, Libyan no-fly zone
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:17 PM
6 Comments:
Obama is just being Obama... this is exactly what he said he would do. Remember, genocide is not a good enough reason for the U.S. military to be out and about. And how on earth else would your face down a butcher like Kadaffi besides military force? And remember, he considers any interference from the U.S. (and Europe, for that matter) as imperialist, oppression, colonialist, etc. etc. If anybody doesn't like this, then blame yourselves. The Internationals spend decades promulgating hatred for U.S. interference and the U.S. listened. The U.S. has now provided the exact type of U.S. non-cowboy leader the international community was working toward. What is your solution without the U.S.? Wait for it.... just let them kill each other off! I've heard leftists say this exact thing.
Obama campaigned for Raila Odinga in Kenya before he became president (is that ok with the Logan Act?). When Odinga didn't like the results of the election, he deployed his machete monsters to bully his way into a high position in Kenya's govt. No objection from Obama. Actually, Obama spent time and US$$ campaigning in Kenya for their new constitution imposing Sharia Law on non-muslim-majority Kenya. And now Odinga has been calling for the arrest of gays. Take notes, folks! Don't keep expecting Obama to be different than he is.
The Saudis helped Bahrain ruthlessly put down a pro-Iranian uprising. The Saudis told Obama to get lost. And so far he's voted "present."
European governments “completely puzzled” about U.S. position on Libya
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/16/european_governments_completely_puzzled_about_us_position_on_libya
"Puzzled"??? It's what they've been demonstrating in the street for for half a century! They've gotten their fondest wish! Here we have a neutered U.S. standing shoulder to shoulder with Communist China (70 mil dead?) and Backsliding Russia (60 mil dead?) and Formerly-Nazi Germany (how many dead? I forget). Obama and Clinton are ever so worldly, sophisticated, and cool... nothing is wrong, nothing is right, and anything goes. It's just how things are... the slashers are on the prowl.
carl,
a significant number of your conservative buddies in congress stated emphatically that they didnt want america to get involved in libya....yet you blame obama?
anyway...who cares?
let them kill each other
do you honestly believe that the overthrow of ghadafi would really change things anyway?
Internationalism at work, Evian Conference, 1938.
Obama, 2011.
You can lead a whore to culture...
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