Why not Syria

Well, French Fries aren't the best explanation.. But we aren't getting any good explanations anywhere, from anyone about Libya.. or Syria

What we are getting is indications the situation is not going the way the politicians planned  It does seem to be going the way military planners and Bob Gates, our Secretary of Defense anticipated. As hard as it is for some to believe, our generals seem to know more about war planning than our President, or Members of Congress

Last week Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said the Libyan Civil War is likely to become a stalemate.. Several Senators, including Linsey Graham, and John McCain want us to get more involved.

Will involving US Predators in the fight help solve the problem and prevent a stalemate?  They could, they're a great tool for hunting down and killing specific  targets, but ven though not many people would cry if he got wasted, Gaddadfi isn't a legitimate target

Obama originally justified U.S. involvement on the grounds that it was needed to avert an imminent humanitarian crisis there, including the possibility that large numbers of civilians would be killed if Gaddadfi won.  What started out as a mission to create and enforce a No Fly Zone, quickly went to bombing ground troops, then the addition of Non-Leathal-Aid... (everything except guns, bullets and things that explode).  Now the Brits and French are talking about advisers and there is some muttering in DC about us helping on the ground... Something we were promised wouldn't happen.

If the situation isn't complicated enough, an almost idendical mess is developing in Syria.  From this mornings news:

Syrian troops sweep into Daraa, fire on protesters

DAMASCUS (AFP) – Thousands of Syrian troops backed by tanks swept into the flashpoint town of Daraa on Monday, firing on residents and leaving bodies lying in the streets, activists and witnesses said.

Rights activists also reported security force raids Monday in the towns of Douma and Al-Muadamiyah near Damascus.

One witness spoke of five people killed in Daraa when their car was raked by gunfire while activists reached by telephone said they were unable to count the number of dead and wounded as army snipers on rooftops were preventing people from leaving their houses.

"We saw with our own eyes, they were in a car that was riddled with bullets," the witness said, adding that he was on a rooftop and could hear intense gunfire reverberating across the town.

"The minarets of the mosques are appealing for help. The security forces are entering houses. There is a curfew and they fire on those who leave their homes. They even shot at water tanks on roofs to deprive people of water," he said.  READ THE REST

Sounds just like what we went after Gaddadfi to prevent in Libya, is happening in Syria.  Do we intervene?  If so, why, if not why not?  No one seems to know exactly how our intervention in Lybia was in our national interests.. Early on, President Obama said it was in the National Interest, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said it wasn't.

Our closest allie in the Mideast has a serious national interest in what happens in Syria.  One of the primary goals of the Syrian Government, since the Baath Party took power in 1963 has been the destruction of Israel.  The Syrian Goverment has been instrmental in keeping Hamas and Hezbollah supplied with missiles and mortar to use against Israel.  Is ending the flow of weapons to anti Israeli terrorists in America's best interests? 

Then again, if we can't figure out exactly what we're doing in Libya or how to do it, would we end up ot knowing what we're doing in Syria or how to do it?

What do you think?

Comments are open, feel free


...

Boots on the Ground PART 2

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/201142172443133798.html

Seems the rebels are getting some training from special forces.

US and Egyptian special forces have reportedly been providing covert training to rebel fighters in the battle for Libya, Al Jazeera has been told.

An unnamed rebel source related how he had undergone training in military techniques at a "secret facility" in eastern Libya.  He told our correspondent Laurence Lee, reporting from the rebel-stronghold of Benghazi, that he was sent to fire Katyusha rockets but was given a simple, unguided version of the rocket instead.

"He told us that on Thursday night a new shipment of Katyusha rockets had been sent into eastern Libya from Egypt. He didn't say they were sourced from Egypt, but that was their route through," our correspondent said.

"He said these were state-of-the-art, heat-seeking rockets and that they needed to be trained on how to use them, which was one of the things the American and Egyptian special forces were there to do."

The intriguing development raises several questions, about Egypt's private involvement and what the arms embargo exactly means, said our correspondent.


Read the Rest

Does the Administration have a clue?

This Blog was originally posted on Puma By Design's website, it fit in so well with the video I asked if I could borrow it;

Former Six Year Gitmo Detainee and Two Former Ex-Mujahedeen Help Lead Libyan Rebels

From the Wall Street Journal

DARNA, Libya—Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city’s military campaign, training new recruits for the front and to protect the city from infiltrators loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

The presence of Islamists like these amid the opposition has raised concerns, among some fellow rebels as well as their Western allies, that the goal of some Libyan fighters in battling Col. Gadhafi is to propagate Islamist extremism.

Abdel Hakim al-Hasady, an influential Islamic preacher and high-school teacher who spent five years at a training camp in eastern Afghanistan, oversees the recruitment, training and deployment of about 300 rebel fighters from Darna.

Mr. Hasady’s field commander on the front lines is Salah al-Barrani, a former fighter from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which was formed in the 1990s by Libyan mujahedeen returning home after helping to drive the Soviets from Afghanistan and dedicated to ousting Mr. Gadhafi from power.

Sufyan Ben Qumu, a Libyan army veteran who worked for Osama bin Laden‘s holding company in Sudan and later for an al Qaeda-linked charity in Afghanistan, is training many of the city’s rebel recruits.

Both Messrs. Hasady and Ben Qumu were picked up by Pakistani authorities after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and were turned over to the U.S. Mr. Hasady was released to Libyan custody two months later. Mr. Ben Qumu spent six years at Guantanamo Bay before he was turned over to Libyan custody in 2007.

They were both released from Libyan prisons in 2008 as part of a reconciliation with Islamists in Libya.

Read full article

To that Puma asks:


Is it supposed to make one feel better that Hasady’s disdain for the USA has supposedly ebbed somewhat. “If we hated the Americans 100%, today it is less than 50%. They have started to redeem themselves for their past mistakes by helping us to preserve the blood of our children.”

Oh yeah, I am feeling better already. Get Ghaddafi out of office and see how quickly they turn.

********************************

I think she has a point, but as this video shows, Obama supporters don't see it that way




When you get a chance check out Puma's opinions on other subjects at Puma by Design 001

Ten days late, Obama tries to explain

Like many people, tonight I did something I don't do very often, I watched Obama speak.  I don't normally listen to Obama's speeches.  Why bother, every word, move and gesture will be plastered all over the Internet within minutes of him finishing.  Tonight was a little bit different, ten days ago the President interrupted his Brazilian vacation just long enough to tell a Brazilian audience he'd taken America to war. Then he went back to playing soccer with the kids. Tonight, ten days later he was finially going to tell us why.

I was hoping that since he was back in the United States, tonight he might explain why taking the country to war was not a good enough reason to postpone his vacation.  Needless to say I was disappointed.

I also thought he might touch on why he didn't think it was necessary to get Congressional approval..  he closest he came to that was to say he'd consulted with Congressional Leaders.  Judging from the letter House Majority John Boehner sent the President, he doesn't feel there was much of a consultation.  The Presidents very liberal interpretation of the Constitution and the War Powers Act was not mentioned

The President did talk about how he'd taken the lead in getting the UN Mandate, Resolution 1973 through the UN Security Council...  He forgot to mention the mandate isn't a mandate at all, but a resolution that authorises, not mandates a No Fly Zone over Libya.  He talked about all our NATO Allies, mentioning several by name.  There were several like Germany he didn't mention, because they are refusing to take part.

He justified his haste, and indirectly not addressing either Congress or the American People beforehand this way.

"We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi -- a city nearly the size of Charlotte -- could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world," Obama said. "It was not in our national interest to let that happen. I refused to let that happen. And so nine days ago, after consulting the bipartisan leadership of Congress, I authorized military action to stop the killing."

He likes the words,  I and Me

He didn't have time to tell Congress or the American People, but he had time to push a resolution through the UN Security Council,  put together a coalition, deploy Naval Forces and go on vacation.

I'll give him credit for the humanitarian reasoning, Gaddadfi is a monstrous, murdering Son of a Bitch who might very well have slaughtered thousands of his own people to make a point.  Gaddadfi is a terrorist, he has attacked and killed Americans, blown up aircraft and butchered his own people.  In spite of all that we're not out to kill the SOB or even remove him from power, according to Obama.  Killing his grunts is acceptable, most of them are probably draftees so they don't count.

Obama also seems to have a strange idea when the use of force for humanitarian reasons is dictated,, it's all contingent on some abstract idea of American National Interests.   According to Obama, we have no National Interests when it comes to bombing the stuffing's out of other dictators, who like Gaddadfi kill there own people.. so mass muders in Africa are not a big humanatarian issue

Our national interest in Libya is a Gaddadfi Massacre there would cause a flood of refugees into Egypt an Tunisia.... I guess that could upset the Arab Botherhood's plans for democracy in those countries..

I was going to embed a video of Obama's speech here at the end..  But Sarah Palin has some comments about the Presidents speech.  She makes more sense...




For anyone wishing to hear the President, Click Here

Is President Obama a Biden the law?

The War Powers Resolution (often mistakenly called the War Powers Act) provides that:

(c) The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.

The simple question I wish to pose is, exactly what gave President Obama the authority to introduce our military into Libya and to launch missles against the sovereign nation of Libya? The War Powers Resolution (WPR) as quoted above clearly states there are exactly three situations in which the President may legally “introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities.”

Let’s examine these three situations. The first requires a declaration of war. Was there a declaration of war? The Obama administration as much as admitted there was no declaration of war (nor is there one) when it called the launching of missiles against Libya owned assets (get ready to laugh) a “kinetic action.” Clearly the answer is “No.”

The second permissible situation is where there is “specific statutory authorization.” Was there “specific statutory authorization” as required by the WPR? To date no news organization has claimed this is the case. Nor has the Obama administration argued there was “specific statutory authorization.” Good intentions do not count if one follows the law. Thus the answer to this clearly appears to be “No.”

The third permissible situation whereby a President may legally introduce military troops into hostilities is when there is “a national emergency” that is “created by attack upon” the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces. To date there has been no evidence provided that Libya has launched any attack against the USA or its possessions.

So under what legal authority did President Obama authorize our military forces to launch missiles and attack another sovereign country?

The USA is supposed to be a country of laws. I will be the first to admit that there are far, far too many laws. And I will admit that several laws appear illegal under a logical reading of the Constitution. And I willingly agree that many laws infringe upon our rights and even our duties as citizens. But that leaves the simple question I asked initially. What authority does the President have to introduce our military forces into Libya? Even Al Gore could not argue there is “No controlling legal authority” when the WPR clearly is the controlling legal authority.

Where is Congress? Where are our courts? Where are our patriots? Where is the fidelity to the oath of office by our leaders? Forget politics. Set them completely aside please. But by the same token, do not set aside the responsibility to abide by the law.

Then Senator Biden promised to act against President Bush if he violated the WPR. Where is our good Vice President Biden now?