Now that the west has refused to take any military action to help the rebels fighting Gaddafi, the Crazy Colonel has been emboldened. “Strike Libya?” he said in a speech yesterday. ”We’ll be the ones who strikes you! We struck you in Algeria, in Vietnam.” It appears to be increasingly likely that Gaddafi is going to prevail. He may not have complete control of the country when its done, but he will control the major cities and the oil facilities. He will be emboldened and have billions of dollars of cash thanks to oil exports.
He is also making clear that he is going to work to punish those who asked for him to step down (UK, US, and France) and throw his business to those countries who remained neutral and silent (Russia, China, and Germany). President Obama managed to carry out a “policy” that is the worst of both worlds. He did just enough to enrage Gaddafi, but not enough to actually get rid of him. You can’t split the difference when it comes to a civil war. You either sit quiet or you pick sides.
Mr. President, how is it possible to come up with such a stupid strategy?
President Obama continues to believe that speeches and statements (“Gaddafi should step down”) are tantamount to a policy. Power politics is not a debating society and flowery speeches and expressions of “hope and change” mean nothing at the end of the day. When Obama sat in the Illinois State Senate, he had a habit of voting “present” on certain thorny political issues. When it comes to leading the Free World, ”present” just won’t cut it.
It’s a sad day when Hillary Clinton is providing the backbone for a presidential administration.
Big Peace
