At the main square in Benghazi, people have been gathering to celebrate the end of the rule of Muammar Qaddafi. As euphoric Libyan rebels advanced into Tripoli on Sunday, there were scenes of jubilation in the rebels’ de facto capital, Benghazi, where thousands celebrated in the streets.
One large sign in the middle of the square in Benghazi features a picture of the “Fantastic 4” (from right to left): Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and U.S. Ambassador the U.N. Susan Rice. The text on the sign reads: “God Bless You All. Thanks For All.”
Both Republicans and Liberals went after the President HARD for launching a military action in Libya.
To be honest I was not exactly doing cartwheels over the decision either, but I have learned with this President not to rush to judgement too quickly.
And what we are seeing today is confirmation that my "wait and see" approach was the correct one in this case. I struggle every day to form ANY trust in a government that for eight years seemed to treat its citizens like potential insurgents and whose military strutted around the world like a gunslinger itching for a fight.
But slowly I am beginning to relax and to stop looking for conspiracies behind every action.
It occurs to me that there is very likely a LOT of things happening behind the scenes that we are not allowed to see, simply because the President is not exactly comfortable showing all of his cards to a VERY adversarial Republican party, who have already demonstrated a penchant for sabotaging his efforts to do the right thing for the American people simply for short term political gain.
Here is an interesting take on Obama's Libya decision from the Economist:
I AM on holiday for three weeks in a faraway corner of Cornwall, but the momentous news from Libya has reached even here. Barack Obama received a lot of stick for his cautious approach to the uprising in Libya. Liberals traumatised by Iraq could not believe he had started another war. Republicans mocked him for "leading from behind". But with the collapse of Muammar Qaddafi's regime now in prospect, his critics ought to eat at least some of their words.
Like many others, I had strong misgivings (see here), for example, but the president remained supremely calm throughout and the speech he made in March looks pretty good in light of what has now happened. The intervention (Mr Obama notoriously refused to call it a war) could not have taken place without America's technological help; it was conducted mainly by allies; it had the blessing of the UN Security Council and the Arab League; and for those reasons it has generated almost no blowback from the Arab world. In short, a job well done - though I don't expect his Republican critics to be willing to admit this.
I have already seen John McCain making the case that this success could have taken place much faster if Obama had chosen to "employ the full weight of the US Air Force." But as most of us are undoubtedly aware, doing so would have brought Obama even MORE condemnation from both the Right and the Left in this country.
No I think Obama played this just right, and that this will be yet another big win, much like the taking of Osama Bin Laden, which will make the Republican's efforts to take back the White House in 2012 just that much more impossible.
(H/T to The Obama Diary.)
Update:
