Once again a Democratic President appears to be poised to get us involved in a politically correct war.  Obama has never hinted that our national security is at risk with regard to Libya.  Everyone agrees that Gadhafi is a bad actor and no one will miss him, but is he really a threat to us?  George Bush at least made the argument that Iraq under Saddam Hussein represented a significant threat to our national security.  Obama has not made that argument, just like Clinton failed to make that argument with regard to the military action in the Balkans.

This is a typical UN action.  No one is suggesting that Libya is a threat to anyone other than the people unfortunate enough to live there.  If the UN is going to respond whenever people are getting killed, they apparently have been asleep with regard to other garden spots like the Sudan, Rwanda, Somalia and Darfur.  This clearly isn’t just about preventing people from getting killed; the UN has seldom shown a backbone with regard to that topic.  It also isn’t just about getting rid of Gadhafi, although there is a certain appeal there.  The real question is:  Why?   Why Libya, Why now?  

The answer, at least with regard to Obama, is that he is far more concerned over how the international community views this than about the impact on our national security.  The real pressure is coming from Britain and France who are determined to deal with Gadhafi.  There is little political pressure coming from the U.S. for us to get involved.  That is one reason Obama was so slow to act.  He didn’t feel the urge.

What changed”  Did Gadhafi change?  No.  Is this the first we realized that he was killing people?  Please!  The only thing that has changed is that it looks like Gadhafi is going to win, and more importantly for Obama, the UN is upset.  If Obama had taken action immediately, like sending a carrier to the Mediterranean, things might never have gotten this far.  Now it sure looks like we are going in a day late, a dollar short and with no particular strategy other than to limit our losses and look good in the eyes of the international community.

Obama may even have trouble getting congressional authorization.  Senator Richard Lugar is far from impressed and he appears to be organizing the opposition.  

http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/18/lugar-heads-to-white-house-for-meeting-on-potential-libya-attack/

To a large extent Lugar has a point.  If this is such an emergency, why did it take Obama over a month to make a decision?  It appears that Obama’s primary standard for sending in U.S. troops is the blessing by the UN.  That, unfortunately, is all too consistent with the way Obama approaches everything.  Just recently someone pointed out current slogan on the “new” Department of Justice website:

 http://www.justice.gov/

THE COMMON LAW IS THE WILL OF MANKIND ISSUING FROM THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE

I have been unable to verify the source of this quote, but it sure isn’t from the U.S. Constitution.   But it is exactly the kind of verbiage one associates with the UN. 

To put this in perspective, I will provide the following quote from Ronald Reagan:

America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.”

Now compare that with some comments by Barack Obama:

“The fact that I am very proud of my country — and I think that we’ve got a whole lot to offer the world — does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we’re not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise, and that includes us,”  

This is a long way from the shining city upon a hill. 

When asked how he would decide whether or not to use military force, Obama gave the following answer:

Note that there is zero mention of a threat to our own national security.  The only issue for Obama is whether or not the international community thinks it’s a good idea.

His stated goal for our country is as follows:

“less global leader than global facilitator, less savior than responsible partner.”

Some of this information was taken from the following Time article, but there were numerous other sources saying the same thing.   

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1910057,00.html#ixzz1H0EDMySu

That is the real problem with Libya.  It is the real problem with Obama.  We have become nothing more than a subservient tool of the all powerful UN.  The most pathetic thing of all is that none of this should have been a surprise.  This is exactly what he promised when he campaigned.  Perhaps, as others have pointed out before, the real problem is not Barack Obama, but rather the country that was stupid enough to elect him in the first place. 

TDM