From The Hill:
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday said the Obama administration failed to answer all his questions about the U.S. mission in Libya and raised the possibility that the House would move to cut off funding for the operation.
In response to demands from the House, the administration released a 32-page report arguing that the Libya mission does not need congressional authorization because the U.S. military engagement there doesn’t amount to “hostilities.”
Boehner said that explanation doesn’t fly with him…
Got that right – the explanation is that even though we’ve got military forces engaged, we’re not at war because it is hard for the Libyans to hit us doesn’t come across as a valid argument. You can bet your bottom dollar that if President McCain had done this then Senator Obama wouldn’t buy it. Only the most egregious of partisans could possibly swallow the Presidential sophistry on Libya.
I am still in favor of intervening in Libya provided we go for victory – I see no evidence that we are, but I am willing to give Preisdent Obama more time. Perhaps there are back-stage things going on which are moving us towards success. Time will tell on that, but Obama clearly doesn’t have an endless amount of it. While it would be a bad thing to cut off funds for the effort, it would be worse to continue the effort indefinitely – with no goal; no pursuit of victory. Better to bug out than just meander along pointlessly.
It is to be hoped that Obama will bring Congress in to his confidence and let the leaders know fully what the goal is and then have a vote on the floor of Congress to decide if it will be done. If Obama does approach Boehner and explains carefully what we are doing and asks for a vote, I have no doubt that Beohner’s response would be that of a patriot – to secure authorization for a victorious campaign. But it is up to Obama – and if he doesn’t move swiftly, then things will go entirely out of his hands and he’ll find a bi-partisan Congressional majority lining up against further actions in Libya.
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