U.S. Missiles Fired on Libya to Enforce No-Fly Zone: Right Move?

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Tomahawk Missiles have been launched against Libya from American warships, involving the U.S. in a military action against Libya's air defenses (20 targets along Libya's coast) in order to enforce the no-fly zone. The question that arises immediately is simply, is this a wise move?

American interests, including protecting the safety of American citizens, is the key behind determining whether or not to take military action. The Founding Fathers did not desire America to enter foreign conflicts unless there was a direct impact on the United States. It was the policy of early America not to get involved in foreign entanglements.

War is something to enter into with much deliberation. The United States did not enter into World War II until Pearl Harbor. America did not launch a war against Islamic terror until after 9/11. We did not invade Iraq until it was widely understood that American interests in the Middle East would be compromised should the Hussein regime dominate that vital region. Iraq posed as a threat to America, and her allies, by pursuing nuclear ambitions, and threatening to share those technologies with terrorists.

With the Bush administration, as with the current administration, military action was not the preferred option, and the decision to take action was carefully deliberated.

So one must ask, "Does Libya pose a danger to American interests?"

In addition to that question, one must also ask, "Or is this simply an attempt to ensure the anti-Gadhafi rebels succeed?"

Barack Obama, after paying no attention to the region's strife for so long, suddenly has taken a stance. Was it that he was waiting to see if the world would support him? Is Obama playing his cards in such a way so that he can become "a man of the world" as his hero Franklin Delano Roosevelt was allegedly considered?

One must consider also that Obama's campaign was that of an anti-war candidate. He proclaimed to have the idealistic notion that war itself can be banished. Yet, only two years after a campaign that was primarily geared towards demonizing Bush for engaging in a war in Iraq, Obama has given the okay for American forces to launch Operation Odyssey Dawn, which is war against Libya (though the Obama administration has said the U.S. will not deploy ground troops).

Obama's decision only confirms that Barack Obama is a president of extremes.

Barack Obama has done everything he can to avoid showing any concern over the situation in Libya. While being criticized for not even giving as much as a few words regarding the unrest in Libya, Obama went golfing. At a time when other presidents would be in the Oval Office going over reports, and working to understand the situation and working to determine what the American response should be, Obama was taping for ESPN his list of predicted winners in the NCAA college basketball March Madness brackets. Then, suddenly, without warning, he jumped to the other extreme, and launched missiles against Gadhafi.

One wonders if Obama's lack of action was simply because the man-child didn't know what to do, and he was waiting for an international queue.

Whatever his reasoning, I am not convinced that this is the right line of action.

Time will tell.

One thing is for sure: Obama expects this to be limited American involvement, and he is in for a rude awakening. Once our forces commit to a conflict, reality dictates that it is in for the long haul.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Obama: US launches military action against Libya - Yahoo News

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Borden, Arthur. A Better Country: Why America Was Right To Confront Iraq. Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books, 2008.

Geddes, Donald Porter, ed. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, A Memorial. New York: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1945.