NATO wants out (of the leadership position).
Britain's Prime Minister wants out (of the leadership position).
France has proposed that a new political steering committee outside NATO be responsible for overseeing military operations over Libya.
I get a lot of "hate mail" for my non-Bakken posts, but I generally re-report it as I see it. Again, in this case, I can't make it up: this is exactly what is being proposed by the man/country who got us into this mess in the first place (Sarkozy/France) and to some extent, Cameron/Great Britain.
And whether you support, don't support, or have no opinion on what's going in and over Libya, a) setting up a new "entity" to manage a coalition in the middle of the war; and, b) labeling it a "political steering committee" seems entirely nuts.
"A political steering committee to be responsible for overseeing military operations over Libya." I guess Clausewitz was correct: war is a mere continuation of politics by other means. In this case, FranceBritainUS won't even disguise it: it will a political exercise. With Tomahawks. And two Qatar vintage fighter jets.
Wow.
It just dawned on me: the country closest to Libya with most interesting political history -- Italy.
There's an old saying that victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan. JFK News Conference, April 12, 1961.
******
April 4, 2011: US pulls back its fighter-bombers; then extends for two days; pulls them back again. Now Kadafi says he's staying for now but Libyans in "free" election will determine if he stays longer.
March 23, 2011: US Marines are being sent to Libya. Amphibious vessels are already there. I assume the US Marines will follow orders from a foreign "political steering committee."
March 23, 2011: British Navy -- after only five days of war -- and attacking a small country -- is running out of Tomahawk missiles. I cannot make this stuff up.
Flashback, March 23, 2011: from the Drudge Report -- apparently it isn't only Democratic senators that want to impeach the president. Even his vice president is on record voicing his responsibility to see that the president is impeached if he goes to war without Congressional approval. I can't make this stuff up. It is interesting to watch Howard Dean support the war effort. Hell must be freezing over.
Update, March 22, 2011, 9:30 p.m. EST: this is nuts. Germany has pulled its forces out of NATO over the Libyan crisis. The coalition is in disarray. Obama will cut short his Latin American trip to head home to sort things out -- I guess report to the "political steering committee." So, now, on top of everything else our current administration has done, now it looks like they've fractured NATO. This is incredible. Amateur hour. With consequences. I can only imagine the talk shows tomorrow morning. I can hardly wait to hear the spin we get on this. France: "We are not at war." How did the US step into this? Hillary Clinton: win-win. If the war went well, it was her war. If the war went badly, it was Obama's war. Something tells me Hillary Clinton is going to avoid a face-to-face meeting with her boss as long as she can. Democratic lawmaker says Obama's actions are impeachable offense; hell must be freezing over -- I'm starting to like Dennis Kucinich.