The amateurism in the administration is beyond ridiculous and incompetent it borders on insane. INSANE... (MSNBC)- President Barack Obama predicted Tuesday that continued military and diplomatic pressure will force Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi to “ultimately step down.” In an interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams a day after he addressed the nation to explain his Libya policy , Obama refused to rule out providing direct U.S. military assistance to the rebels fighting Gadhafi’s government. But he said that was unlikely and that his comments shouldn’t be interpreted as signaling wider U.S. intervention in the region.
“Gadhafi’s been greatly weakened,” Obama said. “He does not have control over most of Libya at this point, and so for us to continue to apply this pressure, I think, will allow us the space and the time to forge the kind of political solution that’s necessary.” Obama said that nine days into the U.S. action in Libya, “The degree to which we’ve degraded Gadhafi’s forces … has been significant.” His comments came after U.S. ships and submarines were reported to have fired cruise missiles at Libyan missile facilities in and around Tripoli overnight.
“Our primary military goal is to protect civilian populations and to set up the no-fly zone,” he said, but “we’re not taking anything off the table at this point.” “One of the questions that we want to answer is do we start getting to a stage where Gadhafi’s forces are sufficiently degraded where it may not be necessary to arm opposition groups,” he said. (Link)
This statement from Obama comes on the heals of Susan Rice stating a similar thing: WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Tuesday that the Obama administration has not ruled out arming Libya’s rebels as an option for trying to end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule.
Speaking a day after President Barack Obama defended his Libya strategy in a televised address, Rice said Gaddafi has shown no sign of leaving power without continued pressure from Western powers that have imposed a no-fly zone over Libya and used air strikes to constrain his ground forces.
“Over the long-term, as the president said, there are other things that are at our disposal that perhaps will assist in speeding Gaddafi’s exit,” she told CBS’s “The Early Show” as part of a series of TV interviews. “It may not happen overnight,” she added.
She spoke as more than 40 countries and international organizations gathered in London to chart a post-Gaddafi future for Libya. Britain and Italy suggested he could be allowed to go into exile. Rice said the United States would maintain financial and diplomatic pressure on the Libyan government until Gaddafi leaves and hinted that new steps could be in the offing, including the arming of Libyan rebels.
“We have not made that decision, but we’ve not certainly ruled that out,” she said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program. (link)
(snip) Allow me to clear something up for them both: (Foreign Policy Link) In the rush to curtail Muammar al-Qaddafi’s military capacity to attack civilians in Libya, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on February 26 to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Libya. But the measure also unwittingly impeded the effort of the Western-backed rebels to fight Qaddafi’s forces.
Paragraph 9 of Resolution 1970 required all U.N. members to “immediately take the necessary measures” to bar the sale, supply or transfer of weapons, mercenaries, or other supplies to Libya. The arms embargo, which was adopted before the rebels had emerged as a potential threat to the regime, included no exemptions for Qaddafi’s foes.
Perhaps the reason both Ambassador Rice and President Obama are unaware of the arms embargo is because they were both detached from Libyan decisions at the time the UN met in emergency session to make the resolution: Which included #1. Asset Freeze. #2. ICC referral. #3. Arms Embargo. This was on February 23, 24, 25, 26 in UN emergency session. UN Ambassador Susan Rice chose not to attend and Obama was hosting a Motown review in the White House East Room. They were disinterested !! It was not until the press began poking Obama over the optics of his golf bag whilst Libyans were strafed in the streets that Obama decided to take a look at Libya. 11 days after the entire fuggin thing started. Hello? People? Can you see how flippin incompetent this administration is yet? Anyone ?… Ugh, ugh, ugh….. /SD
