Posted on 03/30/2011 6:35:52 AM PDT by IbJensen
In his speech on Libya Monday evening, President Barack Obama demonstrated why self-congratulation is an awful basis for foreign policy. The stated aim of the address was to tell the American people "what we've done [in Libya], what we plan to do, and why this matters to us." That might have been a genuinely interesting bit of oratory. It is not what we actually heard.
Perhaps the wrong speech got loaded onto his teleprompter, because the preachment Obama delivered fudged the past, gave us weasel words in place of real goals, and substituted a vigorous Nobel Peace Prize-winning pat on the back for any good reason to make this our fight. The evasions of fact and friction were so breathtaking that they need to be cataloged for posterity. What I offer here is only a first and flawed attempt:
1. What national interest? Obama said that when Americans' "interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act." These are two very different things. If America got into it with other nations every time they offended our values, we would need a much bigger military. (Maybe we could borrow China's?)
By putting interests and values together, Obama tried to pull a switcheroo. He said that if he had "waited one more day" to act, a massacre might have occurred in the city of Benghazi, which might have "stained the conscience of the world." He explained, "It was not in our national interest to let that happen." More to the point, "I refused to let that happen."
2. What Constitution? The "one more day" line helped to set up Obama's justification for not seeking a congressional resolution for US actions in Libya.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
If Republicans were smart they'd be all over the airwaves explaining to the STOO-PID™ sheeple that voted for the Kenyan that he's pulling a bait-and-switch on them and selling snake oil.
Because 'turning the mission over to NATO' means nothing as the American Military IS NATO(1). So 'we' are still carrying the load and the MONEY -- which we don't have.
So that's what I'd do for Barry's 'Mission Accomplished' moment. Tell 'We The People' he's full of cr*p! .. and driving us faster to economic doom. Oh, and inciting MORE Muslim hatred of America.
(1) Our 'NATO allies' can't field a full Army Division. Don't have ONE Carrier Battle Group, or more than a few Squadrons of an 'Air Force' combined. As while we protected their collectives butts for 50+ years from the USSR, they've spent their 'defense' money on FREEBIES for their citizens. The only exception that even comes close is Germany. Their Air Force (Luftwaffe) is the strongest in Europe.
About a month ago I read that the UK was decommissioning their Last Aircraft Carrier in about a year (or 18 months?). So much for 'Britannia Ruling The Waves'. They can't even 'rule' the English Channel.
I worry that Obama doesn’t get enough credit for all the global destruction he has caused.
It often keeps me up nights......
Obama says that the world would have been even worse if he wasnt president, he is still fixing the world, under the UN/NATO banner of course :)
If that keeps you up nights you will be up lots of nights. At least the guy screwing things up NOW is NOT someone I voted for, unlike Bush. Obama is doing pretty much what i expect, more or less. Knowing I voted for Bush kept me up nights as disaster after disaster unfolded. Fortunately many people I know forgot how I used to defend him in his first term, but I didnt.
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