Barack Obama, International Community Organizer

by Dr. Susan Berry 

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan announced to the American people that the United States had begun bombing Libya. In his statement, President Reagan referred to Libyan dictator, Muammar al-Qaddafi, as a “monstrous murderer.” Here, he described Qaddafi’s heinous crimes against the Libyan people, Americans, and citizens of other countries.

Qaddafi has continued his reign of terror throughout the past 25 years, yet, as of March 1st- just a few weeks ago- the United Nations’ Human Rights Council was set to adopt a report which praised Libya for its human rights record. UN Watch, a nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, documented the path of the report, and ultimately urged the Council to reject it. The organization exposed the words of praise for Libya, in the report, from countries such as North Korea, Venezuela, and Cuba, among others. However, in his review of the report for the Wall Street Journal, James Taranto sarcastically recommended that the council “ignore UN Watch’s advice and approve the report praising Libya. For it tells us a lot about the U.N. Human Rights Council.”

Indeed, UN Watch Director, Hillel Neuer, observed that while the Human Rights Council was praising Libya, the U.N. Security Council was simultaneously approving a tough set of sanctions against the Libyan regime.
As the various councils of the United Nations operate at cross-purposes, so, too, does the current United States President, who holds the organization at the highest level of esteem. So much so, in fact, that President Obama has involved the nation in a third Mid-Eastern war, with no clear mission and no exit strategy. Yet, these serious deficits seem lost on the American president who would prefer to have the permission of the U.N. over that of the United States Congress to utilize the nation’s human and financial resources in an act of war.


Although some are rightly concerned about the specific constitutionality of the president’s failure to seek authorization from Congress to initiate the joint attacks on Libya, it is hard to imagine this young president, who has demonstrated little experience in governing, would venture into military action without the benefit of the valuable insights of some of the members of Congress who likely could have provided counsel about the very issues which are now problematic. Not to mention the obvious fact that the Congress represents the American people, who are entitled to a debate before such a monumental decision.
Instead, the president values more the judgments of the “international community,” while his “follow the bouncing ball” decisions leave a trail of questions and resentment on both sides of the political aisle in his own nation.

The “global” and “international community” rhetoric seems to serve a purpose that fits in with the president’s method of operations: that there is always someone else to blame for the decision. Indeed, the “coalition” appears to be already falling apart. First and foremost, the president, sensing immense disapproval, has backed away from the idea that the United States “lead” the military effort by stating that the nation is transferring the leadership to the other coalition countries “within days, not weeks.” He has also denied that U.S. ground troops would be engaged in the war effort.

Despite these public statements by the administration, there is evidence to the contrary.

Second, some of the Arab League nations do not appear to have received the memo about the extent of the mission. These nations have complained that they were unaware the “creep” of the mission would go beyond a no-fly zone to include actual bombings, and, strangely enough, that they had no idea people on the ground would be killed. People getting killed in a war? How odd.

And it appears the president’s “U.N. permission” is slowly being rescinded as Russia refers to the Libyan war as a “medieval crusade,” and there is suggestion that President Obama return his Nobel Peace Prize, while Brazil and China both call for a cease-fire. As resolutions go, why anyone would put our money on the U.N. is beyond comprehension.

While the Libyan effort falls apart, the president and his adoring media still express pride in his ability to “organize” the nations of the world into a “one for all and all for one” operation. Cool. But the fact is that when there is no leader, most things fall apart.

Barack Obama is still living the life of a “community organizer.” Only now, it’s on an international level.

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