Huck, you and I have exchanged ideas before and I do respect your thoughts and writings but why would anyone that may aspire to a public office ever say they would not take into consideration that ground troops may have to be considered when an altercation has happened?
I went back and watched that video again. I had seen it when it was on the first time on TV but I wanted to see what I had missed. Anyone who has ever listened to the speeches that Palin gives knows she does not follow a polished format...she speaks from her mind and her heart. You need to watch her body movements and facial expressions when she is talking. When she was speaking about the troops she certainly didn’t look like that would be her first choice in this situation. She emphasized on “no fly zone” and “Gaddafi has to go”...but on that statement about troops...it was like a “oh, that’s not what I would WANT to do” kind of response...at least to me. It was my feeling she wanted to make it quite clear that anytime you put a choice to another leader that all options would be on the table.
An altercation didn't happen. Libya is embroiled in their own civil war. Mrs. Palin was calling for us to get involved in it. And yes, once you get entangled in something like that, it's difficult to rule anything out. That's what they call mission creep. You get sucked in deeper and deeper, like a gambler trying to win back his money on a losing night.
You and I both agree that Mrs. Palin wanted us involved in Libya's war and wouldn't rule out ground troops. I strongly disagree with her entire concept of US policy towards Libya. Her position is no different than Obama's, really, except that she'd execute that policy more aggressively.
A bad policy is a bad policy, whether it's executed aggressively or otherwise. We have no business in Libya. We don't even know who we're helping.
Unlike Governors Romney, Huckabee, Pawlenty and Speaker Gingrich, she has skin in the game. Her son, Specialist Track Palin, has already served in the Iraq war. No Romney has EVER served in the military, IIRC.