At a time when the American people overwhelmingly oppose our continued military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama has responded by committing the United States to another war. Today, the U.S. attacked Libyan forces with over a hundred cruise missiles hitting the capitol and surrounding areas. With the two wars already draining the United States of billions a day, these cruise missile attacks alone will cost hundreds of millions in both the equipment and commitment of forces.
While we go to war against Libya for its crackdown on democratic reformers and protesters, the United States continues to support its allies like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (which have unleashed tanks on protesters). What is the principled line determining when we go to war to support protesters or reformers? Will the same line apply to our allies?
Here is what Obama has stated today: ”Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people. And we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world . . .”
We are now going to war in a country which seems to be experiencing a civil war. It is also a country that greeted the mastermind of the PanAm terrorist attack as a national hero. Finally, we are once again going to war without a declaration of war. While the Framers were quite clear about the need for a declaration, we are once again simply circumventing that inconvenient principle. The same Democrats who insisted that they were misled in using a resolution to start the Iraq War are again standing silent in the face of another President committing this country to war without a declaration. I consider bombing the capitol city of a nation to be an act of war.
I seriously doubt that the majority of Americans are opposed to the other two wars but would want to go fight in Libya.
While we are clearly not committing to a ground conflict, this is a move that is clearly opposed to the public’s desire to end this foreign military entanglements — and not to add new ones. The political disconnect over these wars is both distressing and dangerous for a system that, while a representative democracy, is still based on the notion of responsiveness to the voters.
Source: CNN
So Jeff,
You don’t think we were pushed into this conflict hastily by France & England?
Do you believe in engaging the military without a clear objective?
What is the objective of this war? WHO are we supporting?
Obama has less than sixty days to answer these questions under the War Powers Resolution Act.
gbk,
“What an ignorant utterance.”
And what a completely useless ad hominem statement devoid of factual or analytical basis.
Shady,
1. Might need a history lesson here. Libya is part of the infamous Barbary Coast that threatened sea lanes for centuries, including most famously during the Jefferson administration. More recently, Gadhafi has been know to claim so much of the Mediterranean for Libya as to completely cover Malta and cover part of Sicily. He also is notorious for blowing up passenger jets, as you may recall.
B. I don’t disagree with military action against Somalia and its pirates. But we don’t act there for the same reason Ghadafi is covering himself with civilian human shields and placing civilian corpses around military targets – the outcry against “civilian” casualties, real or imagined. Since Somali pirates look and dress like civilians, the danger there is especially high. Military action against the pirates might not be necessary if once caught in the act they were immediately executed, which was the punishment at common law. But because the “international community” wanted to be more “humane,” they stopped doing that and now use a system of “catch and release.” consequently we now have more piracy than at any time since the early 1800’s.
III. Of course POTUS and Hillary are talking “morality,” not national interest. There is a political necessity in explaining wars in terms of morality. The people – voters – understand that better than they do trade routes and commodity prices. And there is a moral element here in any case.
c. Not all anti-government protestors are equal. In terms of US interests, which is all the US government should care about, pro-US protestors are more important than anti-US protestors. Protestors against an anti-US government are more important than protestors against a pro-US government. (And I notice you don’t seem to be trying to make a case for the pro-US protestors in Iran.)
The job of the US government is to protect the interests of the US people. Period. Not to be liked, not to be “morally consistent,” whatever that is, but to protect the US people, because no one else can or will do it.
Connect the dots…
* Obama dumps BP holdings weeks before last year’s Gulf oil spill.
* Investigative reporters who get ‘too close‘ to the Gulf oil spill face 5 years in prison plus a $40,000 fine.
* Obama bans Gulf oil drilling.
* Obama underwrites foreign offshore oil drilling, primarily in Brazil.
* Obama visits Brazil shortly after awarding Petrobras – Brazil’s state-owned oil company in which George Soros is heavily invested – $2+ billion to finance offshore oil exploration near Rio de Janeiro.
And while vacationing in Rio de Janeiro [more likely, reassuring the Brazilians that $ billions more will be made available upon request, as previously discussed — Sad Hill] another massive oil spill in the Gulf is reported just 20 miles north of the Deepwater Horizon gusher.
(Rocky Kistner) The Coast Guard is investigating reports of a potentially large oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico [that] was sighted by a helicopter pilot on Friday and is about 100 miles long. A fishing boat captain said he went through the slick yesterday and it was strong enough to make his eyes burn.
Better add Friday’s stock market ‘coincidence‘ to the already connected dots:
(Business Insider) According to Judson Parker at Examiner.com, the potentially leaky rig is the Matterhorn SeaStar owned by W&T offshore. It is interesting that as oil rallied late in the day on Friday, shares of W&T Offshore tanked hard into the close.
Source for the recent Gulf oil spill reports:
(Times Picayune) A helicopter crew and pollution investigators have been dispatched to Main Pass Block 41 in response to two calls to the National Response Center, the federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills, said Paul Barnard, an operations controller for Coast Guard Sector New Orleans.
The first caller, around 11 a.m., described a sheen of about a half-mile long and a half-mile wide, he said.
About two hours later, another caller reported a much larger sheen – about 100 miles long – originating in the same area and spreading west to Cocodrie on Terrebonne Bay, Barnard said.
Obama + George Soros + Petrobras + $ Billions USD: HERE
Gulf oil drilling moratorium + job killing + $2 billion sent to Brazil: HERE
Obama’s BP holdings sold just weeks before the Gulf oil spill, then underwrites foreign offshore drilling: HERE
Gulf oil spill reporters and investigators face prison: HERE
Where’s the oil?: HERE
Pain at the pump — media lap dogs silent: HERE
The Gulf oil spill is ‘brilliant’: HERE
Obama gets tough on oil: HERE
Obama dipstick: HERE
http://sadhillnews.com/2011/03/20/another-gulf-oil-spill-near-deepwater-drilling-site-wts-matterhorn-seastar
There is talk that the coalition gets paid in oil.
Another Gulf Oil Spill Near Deepwater Drilling Site – W&T’s Matterhorn SeaStar
The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating reports of a potentially massive oil sheen about 20 miles north of the site of last April’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.
A helicopter crew and pollution investigators have been dispatched to Main Pass Block 41 in response to two calls to the National Response Center, the federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills, said Paul Barnard, an operations controller for Coast Guard Sector New Orleans.
The first caller, around 11 a.m., described a sheen of about a half-mile long and a half-mile wide, he said.
About two hours later, another caller reported a much larger sheen — about 100 miles long — originating in the same area and spreading west to Cocodrie on Terrebonne Bay, Barnard said.
“We haven’t been able to verify that, and it would be very unlikely for an individual to be able to observe a 100-mile long sheen,” he said, adding inspection teams were en route around 3 p.m. to the site.
Eileen Angelico of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement, which oversees offshore oil and natural gas production, said late Saturday afternoon that her agency was awaiting Coast Guard confirmation of the nature of the sheen. The bureau had not received word from any operators in the gulf of a spill, she said.
Please stay with NOLA.com for updates.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/oil_sheen_in_gulf_of_mexico_un.html
Swarthmore mom:
Its actions like this that made me post this feeling on another thread,there are a lot of questions about this action in the Black community.
“eniobob 1, March 14, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Swarthmore mom 1, March 14, 2011 at 11:53 am
“I think if Obama were to be impeached as Jill suggests that there would be tremendous hurt and outrage among the african american community that is still very loyal to Obama. Their support in polls is at 91 percent.”
There is doubt and it has been talked about months ago.The community is inspired by President Obama,but we are not blind either.
And questions have been raised trust me.Impeachment has not even been talked about but there is a feeling of something missing.”
See Obama haters and birthers have taken over this discussion. Goodbye.
Don’t pull the thang out, unless you plan to bang
Bombs Over Baghdad
See Obama haters and birthers have taken over this discussion. Goodbye.
For you BVM
http://www.cashill.com/intellect_fraud/another_look_at_obamas.htm
BVM I was wondering when you would show back up 🙂
Me too Eniobob. I don’t agree with every thing he says but when he hits it, it’s hard to refute what he says.
Bdaman:
“There is alot of truth to what the minister Farrakhan said.”
That’s what hes about,I know he has ruffled some feathers over the years in some peoples minds but I wish there was a way for him to be in a forum so he could really be heard.
Warmonger Barry Soetoro aka Barack ‘insane’ Obama commits more War Crimes. When will he be arrested for violating U.S. / International law and his usurpation of the presidency?
Donald Trump, the newest “birther”
From the founder of the Tea Party Nation attorney Judson Phillips: Trump joined the sane Americans, he is the newest birther, he showed courage, when other politicians ran away like cockroaches. Phillips is on the same page with me
by Judson Phillips
Donald Trump has joined a lot of really sane Americans. He, like us, does not believe Barack Obama. Trump appeared on Good Morning America where he came out and said he has a lot of doubts as to whether Barack Obama was born in the United States.
Bravo Donald!
When Trump came out and said this, he did something amazing. It was not that he agreed with a lot of Americans who say they have doubts about Obama. The great thing about what Donald did is he said it and he did not flinch when he said it. A lot of the alleged conservative leaders have run like cockroaches when the lights are turned on from the eligibility issue. The fact that Trump will deal with that issue and deal with it head on raises his stock as a possible Presidential candidate in a lot of people’s eyes.
Trump could have simply ignored the issue. He could have side stepped it. He could have simply not dealt with it. Instead he pointed out the obvious. This guy is the most mysterious man ever to occupy the White House. He has refused to release almost any of his records. He has refused to release school records, including his records as an undergraduate at Occidental College. Some people have alleged that Obama attended college there on a foreign student scholarship. Opening those records could refute that claim, assuming it is a false claim. How about his social security records? Obama has a social security number that originates from a state that he not only never lived in, there is no proof he even visited that state. How did he end up with that number?
How about his law school records? We know what George Bush’s grade point average was because he released all of his records. In 2004, John Kerry refused to release his military records. In 2008, Obama took this to a new level, refusing to release almost any of his records. The lap dog media quietly ignored that. You can bet in 2012, they will be after the records of every conservative who is a serious candidate for the Oval Office.
In the same interview, Trump also pointed out the obvious that so many people seem to be missing. The next candidate the GOP selects has got to be someone who can beat Barack Obama. Obama will not be a push over. He will raise $1 billion for his reelection campaign, including the illegal contributions and the Chinese cash he will get. He also added the magic words. Someone has to knock out Obamacare.
Trump is not the perfect candidate. There are and should be a lot of concerns about him. His previous support of Rahm Emanuel is disturbing. He seems to have changed his position on abortion and gay marriage.
However, one thing that you can say about Donald, he has shown some courage that some other potential candidates have not shown.
A lot of questions remain about him, but his stock, unlike some other potential candidates, should be rising among conservatives.
Does the coalition help pick up the tab?
No they all try and match dollar amounts of spent shells.
There is talk that the coalition gets paid in oil.
Tomahawk Cruise Missile
Unit cost approximately $756,000 in 2011 dollars.
110 missiles @ $756,000 = $83,160,000
Does the coalition help pick up the tab?
I’ve watched the video twice now Swathmore Mom. There is alot of truth to what the minister Farrakhan said.
Why don’t you bring the Rev. Wright out again?
Don’t have to you just did 🙂
Bdaman Is that the best conspiracy your side has to offer? Why don’t you bring the Rev. Wright out again? How does he fit into the grand scheme?