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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhite House Mulls How To Strike Over Libya Attack
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House has put special operations strike forces on standby and moved drones into the skies above Africa, ready to strike militant targets from Libya to Mali - if investigators can find the al-Qaida-linked group responsible for the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya.
But officials say the administration, with weeks until the presidential election, is weighing whether the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on al-Qaida is worth the risk that such strikes could elevate the group's profile in the region, alienate governments the U.S. needs to fight it in the future and do little to slow the growing terror threat in North Africa.
Details on the administration's position and on its search for a possible target were provided by three current and one former administration official, as well as an analyst who was approached by the White House for help. All four spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the high-level debates publicly.
The dilemma shows the tension of the White House's need to demonstrate it is responding forcefully to al-Qaida, balanced against its long-term plans to develop relationships and trust with local governments and build a permanent U.S. counterterrorist network in the region.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_NORTH_AFRICA_TERROR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-15-14-31-59
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graham4anything
(11,464 posts)the repubs are making this an issue? I say whatever MY President does, I fully back him without hesitation, unconditionally forever.
(people love RFK remember though, he wiretapped Dr. King)
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)president) example is disingenuously superfluous.
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)I don't twist and turn and sad sam on one item. My love is unconditional based on an entire career, not one wedge here or there.
(which is why LBJ is my 3rd favorite president of all time after FDR and Lincoln, and Obama is #4.
JUSTICES HAVE TO DO THINGS CORRECT. Not the whim like 2000 SECOND DECISION WAS.
Do you want Elena to have the right say Obama was not legitimate the next four years???
Remember the full court voted 7 to 2 on 12/12/2000 to let Florida decide that election.
The second decision was only 5 to 4 that said no time left.
I fully expect the rest of the court not to take this case. Roberts does not want another mess of an election
(and Obama already won, therefore it matters little. He will get 350 or more electoral votes. He has lots of firewalls.)
formercia
(18,479 posts)I will vouch for graham4anything....we go back a long ways.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)He got Bin Laden because he allowed his forces and aides to do their work on the ground before he did something showy.
It is just weeks before an election and this is a dangerous time to do anything for the wrong reasons. The president has a difficult decision to make. He needs to sit back, put his wish to win and his emotions on the back burner and make a careful decision. Obama has great instincts about this kind of thing. He should not allow the hysteria of others to rush him.
