Is This The New Way To Fight A War? (A Commentary)

TASK FORCE - Liaison officers from coalition countries meet with Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn staff members to discuss command and control of the multi-phase international military operations aboard USS Mount Whitney, March 21, 2011. The task force was established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Viramontes

War By Global Committee -- Wall Street Journal

Too many commanders in chief could save Gadhafi and undermine U.S. interests.

America's founders gave the powers of Commander in Chief to the President because they knew that war had to be prosecuted with determination, discipline and the national interest foremost in mind. By marked contrast, the use of force against Libya looks like the first war by global committee, with all the limitations and greater risk that entails.

We support the military action, even if it is much belated, and the good news is that the first allied salvos from the air seem to have achieved initial success. They have knocked Gadhafi's air force out of the battle and stopped his ground forces from advancing further into the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Allied planes have also hit Gadhafi's armor and troop columns, which ought to give his mercenaries in particular reason to ask if the pay is worth the risk

Read more ....

Update: A Very Liberal Intervention -- Ross Douthat, New York Times

My Comment: This lack of cohesion and organization from the top on how to fight the war in Libya (coupled with a UN resolution that just confuses everyone on what can and cannot be done) is best summed up by Russian Prime Minister Putin ....

Mr. Putin called the resolution “deficient and flawed,” saying, “It allows everyone to undertake any actions in relation to a sovereign government.”

“In general, it reminds me of a medieval call for a crusade,” Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Monday, after criticizing the allies on Sunday for “indiscriminate use of force.”

And Putin is right .... for example .... even I have no idea on who is running the war in Libya. US Secretary of Gates wants to handover responsibility of the war to someone else (he does not know who) in the next few days. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mullen is careful to not commit to a goal in Libya (because he does not have one), and the President of The United States .... who is usually the one who is coordinating all of this .... decides to visit Rio.

I do know that all the heads of states involved in the Libyan conflict are being briefed daily (if not hourly). But their glaring absence on the podium to articulate and defend (constantly) the objectives of their policy is glaringly obvious to anyone who studies these things .... more so when we compare how President Bush and his advisers conducted themselves in the Afghan/Iraq wars to the current leadership in the Pentagon and White House.

Even the press (and Congress) have gone AWOL on this conflict .... not asking the hard questions that need to be asked, nor providing an alternative point of view to what the administration is advocating. In short .... we are witnessing the unquestioning acceptance of the White House position on Libya .... with no opposing points of view.

What I predict is that in the end .... the war fighting will be left to the liaison officers (photo above) who must seek and accommodate a direction that they all can agree to while interpreting a very confused United Nations resolution on how they can do it. And in the event that everything goes to hell .... well .... we will then know who the White House, Pentagon chiefs, and our allies will be blaming.

So .... is this the new way to fight a war .... by global committee .... I hope not. But from what I am seeing, this is exactly how many of our political leaders now want to show leadership .... or (in my opinion) a lack of.