Barack Obama to the Congress: The United States is not at war with Libya
Earlier today in an attempt to clarify the military action that the United States is now engaged in in Libya–and to make it clear that the United States is not at war with Libya–the Obama regime held a briefing with Congressional aides. It turns out that this clarifying briefing really didn’t clarify the situation all that much as one aide had the following to say once the briefing was over:
You learn more by having read the paper
But that is not the point of this post because there was something that I found much more interesting while I was reading this article. In a letter to Congressional aides the president tried to tie the bombing of Libya to national security by using the following convoluted logic:
In his letter, Obama described the national security interest this way: “[Muammar Qadhafi’s] illegitimate use of force not only is causing the deaths of substantial numbers of civilians among his own people, but also is forcing many others to flee to neighboring countries, thereby destabilizing the peace and security of the region. Left unaddressed, the growing instability in Libya could ignite wider instability in the Middle East, with dangerous consequences to the national security interests of the United States.”
Okay, so he tried to tie his humanitarian intervention in Libya to national security by claiming that this would destabilize the region (as if it were stable in the first place) and pose a potential security threat to the United States, but I am not buying it for one second. But for the sake of argument let us concede this point to the president and grant him the benefit of the doubt that this is an issue of national security, for this is not the part of his statement that I found the most interesting.
Barack Obama claimed at the onset of these hostilities that the United States was going to support the effort but was not going to lead in the attacks against Libya, but take a look at another statement that was included in the briefing that was held earlier today:
He said in the letter that “United States forces are conducting a limited and well-defined mission in support of international efforts” to avoid a humanitarian crisis, and “we will seek a rapid, but responsible, transition of operations to coalition, regional, or international organizations
If the United States is planning on handing over control of the operations in the near future, is that not an admission by the president that the United States is in fact leading these attacks on Libya despite the president’s initial assertion that we would not be leading these attacks? It appears as if once again the president’s rhetoric does not quite match his actions. The United States is leading these attacks, regardless of what the president is telling the American people.
So here is the ultimate question in my opinion: If we are to assume that the United States does face the national security threat that the president claimed in the quote I used above, why is he afraid to admit that we are leading this attack? If the United States has a vested interest in this attack for national security reasons than the United States SHOULD be leading this attack. If this attack was truly ordered for national security reasons than it is irresponsible for the United States to put our trust in another country to secure our national interests.
So which is it Barack? Is the United States leading this attack? Is another country leading this attack? Is this an issue of national security or is it simply a humanitarian issue? Barack Obama held this briefing to clarify the Libya attack but is seems to me that all he did was muddy the waters even more.
Barack Obama went out of his way to assure the Congress that the United States is not at war with Libya, but other than answering that accusation Barack Obama didn’t clarify anything.
America's Watchtower 
Obama is waffeling and is backtracking becuause one of his mentors a man who reffered to Obama as the messiah,Louis Farakan came out and blasted him. Remebee Obamas secret summer vacation in Chicago last year? This man is a puppet with many pulling he strings. And farakan is one of them.
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Obama is beginning to feel pressure from the left that I am sure he never anticipated–he thought the left would simply go along with whatever he decided to do. It is going to be interesting to see how he reacts to this pressure.
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Give the man a break, Steve. It’s not easy to talk out of both sides of your mouth at the same time. He is both Abbot and Costello. It is comedy at its worst. He is dangerous because he is so inept. And, Stinkprogress may be right. We don’t know for sure who the puppet master is; but i’m betting on Soros.
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You are right, I guess I should give Obama credit for that little trick he pulls off so well of talking out of both sides of his mounth.
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Of course he muddied the waters…that’s what a community organizer does.
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Yep, just get everything so convoluted that nobody knows whats going on any more.
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The new song for the Obama admin is “Should he stay or should he go?”
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I know my answer!
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I think you are right, Steve. President Obama is receiving much more pressure from the left than he ever anticipated. By the time he is finished placating them, there’s no telling what he might say or do.
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He really just expected them to fall in line (and to tell you the truth so did I) so he really is twisting himself around here trying to be all things to all people.
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I am looking forward in seeing how Obama spins his way out of his morass.
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So far he hasn’t bothered to say a word about it! You would think that he would address the American people, but he doesn’t seem to care.
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Meh. You rape apologists are seriously overthinking this whole Libya thing.
Sincerely,
VP Joe Biden
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That reminds me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_urvjCXg6c
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LOL! What a classic movie.
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Is it wrong that when you wrote about “rape apologists” that the first thing I thought about was this movie? If it is, I don’t want to be right.
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Seems like he stepped in it already Steve…
Obama’s lack of leadership is why the coalition is already falling apart, and
since he promised ‘no ground troops’ I don’t think Gaddafi’s going anywhere.
They may have halted his advance, but the rebels can’t take Tripoli for the forseeable future
In the end, he’ll have killed some civilians in Tripoli to save some in Benghazi, and you know Obama’s advisors and Hillary told him to do this for the sake of 2012
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It is a sad state of affairs, isn’t it? When the world needed a leader we gave them Obama.
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It is very sad. And now we hear that he’s turning it all over to “NATO”. Never mind that this means our troops will simply be changing hats, if that. NATO=US. UN=US. What he’s done is dump the responsibility onto a Canadian general. Now, when things go right, he can take credit for the US assets in place, and when things go wrong, he can blame General Buchard.
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Do we (the ones dropping the bombs) decide if were at war with country X; or does country X (the ones upon whom the bombs are being dropped) decide? We invaded Afghanistan because AQ used it as their base of operations, not because Afghanistan declared war on us.
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I would bet that if we asked Libya they would state that the US is at war with them.
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I think RR is on to something there. If they stick this out as an air war only, the rebels will live, but not necessarily make any progress.
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So what is the goal here? I just don’t get it.
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AN OPEN LETTER TO BARACK OBAMA FROM A CITIZEN OF NEW HAMPSHIRE… We the American people forget all the bad stuff. We Americans should be Up in Arms Screaming and Fighting. We the Naive,Poor,Gullible,Humble,Stupid,Crazy hard working Americans have been raped by “Star Queen Wrinkles Two Face Bimbo” Srcretary of State Hillary Clinton and her running mate in 2012 Barack Obama. Obama’s alias Goerge Bush… Obama’s Regime is not different then Gadhafi’s nor Mubarak’s; Barack Obama is a Tyrant too… Cruel and Oppressive Ruler. Your hands are Stained with Blood… You are not only Killing our young people, but Innocent… Innocuous Men… Women and Children; Sacred Human Beings in AFGHANISTAN and IRAQ and now in LIBYA… The American People have a difficult issue: You have been using the American People and Hiding Under the Skirst/Pants of Hillary Clinton for over twoo years… my question to you… Who is making the de-cisions here?… The United Nations Security Council, whish is the threshold of Pain for the World with just only one voice!… “The U.S. Government”… Barack my good Ex-friend… do you think that this is a Reality Show?… attaking Libya illigally without asking anyones permission… Congress! then you running like a Rat to Brazil. Now you have Broken the Promise of Oath of Office of the Presicency… like previous criminals Presidents.
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