President Barack Obama made the case for U.S. and NATO involvement in military action against Libya during a speech last night at the National Defense University in Washington D.C..
The President framed the short address in "stark strategic and humanitarian terms," noted USA Today. Obama said the United States could not idly stand by while a tidal wave of democratic aspirations "spreading across the Middle East were 'eclipsed by the darkest form of dictatorship' at the hands" of the murderous Moammar Gadhafi."
President Obama also pushed back against critics who want the U.S. to broaden its mission beyond that narrowly defined by the United Nations Security Council. "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."
Were you satisfied with the President's response? Or do you believe the U.S. should not have lead yet another military intervention in the Middle East? Watch the full speech AFTER THE JUMP ...
Well, I'm a cynical ol' queen, but I love my President, his family and all that he represents to most of the people I know.
I still believe that this action has some political undertones (or overtones--you know, the "strong Commander and Chief" image building stuff) to it. Nevertheless, my President gave an effective speech last night and showed sincere emotion (yes, he did it just like Spencer Tracy or Jimmy Stewart--effective, and that's what he needed to do). I think he may have silenced his critics on both the Right and the Left on this issue...for now.
But I am terrified of any major mistakes by my President between now and November of 2012. Although, with the Republican wacko field of looney presdential candidates I can still manage to breath easily right now.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | 29 March 2011 at 09:02
I am glad that the president stepped in for humanitarian reasons, but am even more glad that he: a) did it with an united international community behind him, and b) decided not to take over the entire operation at a time when can not afford it in terms of both money, and personnel.
The Republicans were interesting on this issue because Glenn Beck (Mr Crying all the time) called the male inner circle sissies, because the people who backed the President going into Libya were only the females in the top positions. Also, McCain agreed the President should go in. A lot of conservative talk show people said he should have gone in sooner. Now they all seem to tell a different story now. I guess it's not that unusual.
I don't worry for the President regarding 2012. What ever is going to happen is going to happen. The government is about to shut down, and the Dems need to take hold of this and be the loudest voice. I'm tired of them giving in to the Repub rhetoric, and allowing the Repubs to frame the conversation/issues. If the Dems are strong enough to take hold of the issues that come to light and frame them (or spin) in their favor, like the Repubs have done regarding healthcare, spending, military, almost all the topics, then the Dems will come out on top in 2012.
Posted by: Diva1961 | 29 March 2011 at 09:23