March 29, 2011 - 8:04pm
Blogging Blue: Walking the tight rope
BY WILL BUTLER
In the blink of an eye, it seemed as though America had entangled itself in another conflict in the Middle East. Last Thursday, the United Nations Security Council approved a no-fly zone over Libya and by Saturday, an allied front had started attacking air-defense targets and pro-Qaddafi forces. Some have reacted by stating that this is a war, while others have defended its validity by saying it’s only an intervention. Either way, what is clear is that our commitment to ousting Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi has gone from rhetorical to material.
Quite simply, President Obama is walking a foreign policy tight rope. On one side of this equation are the several factors that make the no-fly zone and military commitment to Libya seem like a large mistake for the Obama administration. The American people have lost any enthusiasm towards foreign military intervention after multiple conflicts that have dragged on and wasted many domestic resources. Progressives, who were already angered by the fallen promises of closing Guantanamo Bay and stopping military tribunals, feel betrayed by President Obama, who to them now seems more like a neo-conservative war hawk. Politicians from both sides have the aisle have raised criticism, stretching from wanting a more defined mission statement to Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who stated that the lack of congressional approval could be grounds for an Obama impeachment.
However, the other side of this gamble is the large reward. For President Obama, the action in Libya could prove to the American people, and to those who write the history books, that a military intervention for a humanitarian cause doesn’t have to be another Iraq. He can prove that if preformed successfully, and with large international support, using western military power to oust a dictator can actually leave a country better than it was before. He can negate the horrendous foreign policy record of the second Bush administration, while also proving that a President does not have to sit idly by and watch a crisis or genocide unfold. So far, Obama has been walking the tight rope quite skillfully. He has traded President Bush’s ignorant cowboy brazenness for a quieter, yet powerful reluctance and caution and it is working. Yet, only in the coming days and weeks will we be able to see if President Obama’s gamble will pay off.
