Despite his vote against war in Iraq and campaign promises to be a peace broker throughout the world, President Barack Obama explained Monday night in a televised speech that the American intervention in Libya aimed to prevent a slaughter of civilians that would have stained the world’s conscience and “been a betrayal of who we are.” Yet he offered no evidence that any such mass deaths had taken place or were imminent prior to the UN military air strike, which has only acted to aid untrained armed thugs in terrorizing the formerly peaceful country of Libya. Mainstream Western media has strained to tow the partyline, reporting that thousands might have been killed had the UN not intervened, but the public at large remains skeptical as no images and video of widespread death have surfaced. Instead, all reports indicate that a mere 61 people may have been killed in the warring thus far, a far cry from the death toll reported in the Egyptian uprising.
President Obama announced that the U.S and the UN would fall back, allowing NATO to take command over the entire Libya operation on Wednesday. He offered no timeframe for when the undeclared war on Libya might end. In fact, Obama never described military campaign as a “war” and gave no details on its costs, but he offered an expansive case for why he believed it was in the national interest of the United States and allies to act.
“To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and — more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are,” Obama said. “Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action.”
President Obama’s focus on international affairs comes as the U.S. faces massive issues of unemployment, poverty, healthcare and urban infrastructure decay. No word from the President on how this war with Libya will directly address these pressing domestic humanitarian concerns.