"Obama outlines limited U.S. role in Libya intervention"

Clio the Leo

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Fri Mar-18-11 08:47 PM
Original message

"Obama outlines limited U.S. role in Libya intervention"

Obama outlines limited U.S. role in Libya intervention
By Laura Rozen

President Barack Obama, in remarks from the White House East Room Friday, pointedly laid out a limited role for the United States in the military intervention authorized by the United Nations on Libya and stressed that the purpose is not the military ouster of Muammar Gadhafi but the protection of Libyan civilians.

"In this effort, the United States is prepared to act as part of an international coalition," Obama said. "American leadership is essential, but that does not mean acting alone -- it means shaping the conditions for the international community to act together."

"We will provide the unique capabilities that we can bring to bear to stop the violence against civilians, including enabling our European allies and Arab partners to effectively enforce a no-fly zone," Obama said.

Obama spoke after conferring with Congressional leaders about what he envisioned the U.S. role in Libya being.

Obama told Congressional leaders that "he had not authorized troops on the ground or airplanes," a staffer to one of the Congress members briefed Friday said on condition of anonymity. "He stressed the U.S. is diplomatically supporting the no-fly zone, not the enforcement itself."

<snip>

In his public remarks Friday, Obama said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to France tomorrow for meetings with European allies and Arab partners about the Libya intervention to be hosted by France's Nicholas Sarkozy. The French president has shown eagerness to lead the international intervention together with British Prime Minister David Cameron, and a war-weary Washington seems inclined to give them that chance.

Obama also stressed what the United States would not be doing in Libya, namely deploying ground troops in Libya. In fact, the UN Security Council resolution approved Thursday night explicitly excludes a foreign ground intervention in Libya, while authorizing all other necessary means to protect civilians from attack.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110318/pl_yblog_theenvoy/obama-outlines-limited-u-s-role-in-libya

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vaberella

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Fri Mar-18-11 08:51 PM
Response to Original message

1. Thank you for reiterating this Clio.

I just read a few posts where people are talking about ground troops. I'm like that's the first thing Obama did outline was not about to happen unless Gaddafi continued his nonsense. So it's a last resort maneuver. I don't get how people keep reading what they want.

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Clio the Leo

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Fri Mar-18-11 09:25 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. I think there's more over-reacting than actual reading going on...

.... to be quite fair. ;)

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Exilednight

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Sat Mar-19-11 07:40 AM
Response to Original message

3. Forbids ground troops? Really? Did anyone actually read the resolution?

It forbids an occupying force, but it doesn't forbid ground troops. I would of thought that a man who prides himself on nuance would know the difference between ground troops and occupying force.

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vaberella

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Sat Mar-19-11 07:43 AM
Response to Reply #3

4. It's not the resolution. It was Obama himself who stated it.

Edited on Sat Mar-19-11 07:44 AM by vaberella

He has no intention of putting our troops down there.

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Exilednight

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Sat Mar-19-11 07:45 AM
Response to Reply #4

5. He also had no intention for a no-fly zone, but we see how that turned out.

But then again, he also said everything was on the table, including all military options.

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vaberella

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Sat Mar-19-11 10:57 AM
Response to Reply #5

6. No, that's part of the UN resolution.

Edited on Sat Mar-19-11 10:58 AM by vaberella

We have to make clear who's speaking here. People being killed by bombings and in their night by raids from mercenaries---kind of helps in changing perspectives.

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Exilednight

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Sat Mar-19-11 11:47 AM
Response to Reply #6

7. You might want to check your facts. Let me help you out

(Reuters) - The United States is not taking any options off the table with regard to its response to the violence in Libya, including potential U.S. military action, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Friday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/25/us-libya-usa-military-idUSTRE71O69820110225

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vaberella

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Sat Mar-19-11 12:20 PM
Response to Reply #7

8. What? I think you've not read my post carefully or misunderstand my point.

That's not what I said in my post. I said it was in the UN resolution to go push for "no-fly zone" which you stated was what Obama wanted to avoid. I never denied that what you said about Obama's position was false. I was focusing on the point of the "no-fly zone" which is don on a multi-national decision from the UN. Hence what I said for clarity. You stated that it was Obama who pushed for a "no-fly zone"---I said on the contrary. Secondly--you're also giving me an article from February and I also elaborated in my post that when conditions on the ground changes, so do perspectives.

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Exilednight

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Sat Mar-19-11 12:33 PM
Response to Reply #8

9. Like I said, check your facts. Susan Rice pushed for the NFZ. And there

have been widely circulated news reports of Obama sending Hillary out to look for countries to help enforce an NFZ. If the president is sending someone out to find countries to help enforce an NFZ, then the president is pushing for a NFZ.

The date of the article not material to the conversation. There's never been any evidence that he has changed his view.

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vaberella

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Sat Mar-19-11 12:54 PM
Response to Reply #9

10. Well the resolution pushed by the French and passed by the UN says otherwise.

And the entire action is something pushed by the French and backed by several nations who want to help the people dying. Look...I'm not keen on this initiative. I don't like it. I respect that our President wants to help the people dying and I also want to---however so far his personal views on things may be one thing and when something is passed by a multi-national committee and he wants to adhere to these sanctions---I don't really blame him.

When I saw the footage of what happened post the bombings last night---even though this step bugs me, I had to take a step back. There are children dying and people who are waking up to someone dead lying next to them because of a blitzkrieg style attack on them at night by their own leader. That doesn't go down with me. If a NFZ is used as a threat to stop the mad-man I support it---especially if it means our troops aren't physically in the country causing more problems.

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JustABozoOnThisBus

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Sun Mar-20-11 04:09 PM
Response to Original message

11. Obama has not authorized troops or airplanes?

I gutss nobody told him about our B2 bombers hitting Libya.

He wouldn't try to pull one over on us, would he?

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Exilednight

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Wed Mar-30-11 05:35 PM
Response to Original message

12. NATO may order ground forces into Libya, U.S. admiral admits

Speaking to members of Congress today, Adm. James Stavridis admitted that, while allied forces were not yet considering the deployment of troops on the ground in Libya, it was a possibility.

This could run counter to President Barack Obama's pledge that no U.S. soldiers would set foot on the ground in the embattled country, where the decades-long leadership of Col. Muammar Gaddafi has come under an intense challenge from civilian protesters.

Last week the U.S., leading NATO forces, imposed a no-fly zone over Libya, hurling hundreds of missiles and bombs at Gaddafi's soldiers and armor, in an effort to prevent them from massacring a huge civilian population.

The U.S. committment to this endeavor was contingent upon that one detail, according to the president: no U.S. troops will step foot in Libya.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/29/nato-may-order-ground-forces-into-libya-u-s-admiral-admits/

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