On Libya, Obama Willing To Let Allies Take The Lead -- Washington Post
Bill Clinton was criticized for standing by during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and waiting for years to use force in the Balkans. He finally did so in Kosovo without a U.N. Security Council resolution, a case that is being examined by European countries and the Obama administration as they decide how to proceed in Libya.
George W. Bush took that unilateral approach even further following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Bush administration failed to secure a Security Council resolution before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and generally found international institutions more confining than useful in addressing America's post-Sept. 11 problems.
Read more ....
Update: Clinton warns against unilateral US move on Libya -- Reuters
My Comment: The civil war in Libya is giving me evidence on how much U.S. power and influence has deteriorated in the past few years. A brutal dictator who has looted the wealth of his country is now fighting against the majority of his countryman .... and the U.S. is looking at others for leadership on this conflict.
Sighhhh .....
Words escape me .... but considering who is in the White House .... and as I have mentioned in this blog at least a gazillion times in the past two years on what are President Obama's real priorities (and it is not foreign affairs) .... the White House lack of leadership on this crisis is all too predictable.
3 comments:
Sorry, my friend, but the last thing the American people want is another war, especially against a Muslim country. Why is that when the EU countries right across the Med don't have the moral fiber to do it, people always expect American blood and treasure to be expended?
I think it is not only the influence, as you put it, that has declined, but perhaps more so the willingness to get involved somewhere in the Middle East, and as Forrest has pointed out, to sacrifice US´s soldiers and finances for this cause.. to what end? I think you will see the US to go back to a more Monroe Doctrin setting, where interferences in other countries business, at least from a military point of view, will be kept at a minimum..
Thanks Mark and Forrest for your comments .... both of your remarks are on the money.
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