Adviser: Obama acting lawfully on Libya

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is acting legally in ordering U.S. military action against Libya, a top State Department lawyer insisted on Tuesday, telling a Senate panel sharply divided over the commander in chief's authority that the 3-month-old conflict is neither a war nor full-blown hostilities.

Harold Koh defended the limited American role in the NATO-led operation and Obama's insistence that he doesn't need congressional authorization for his actions. The legal adviser also warned that abandoning the mission now would undermine U.S. relationships with allies and "permit an emboldened and vengeful Moammar Gafhafi to return to attacking" Libyan civilians.

He argued the administration's case a few hours before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee considered a resolution that would give Obama authority for one year to carry out the mission while barring U.S. ground forces in Libya. Last Friday, in a rebuke of the president, the House overwhelmingly rejected that authorization but stopped short of cutting off funds for the operation.

Senate Democratic leaders have signaled that they have the votes to pass the bipartisan resolution in the committee, though several amendments were likely.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/adviser-obama-acting-lawfully-libya-144527541.html

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I can't help but think they are products of their parent's Cold War experience.

In Southern California, there's a large population of Vietnamese who escaped that nation at war's end. And they tend to be very Repuglican.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_American

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