Libya?

President Obama has managed to craft a policy on Libya that no one likes. Obviously the peace lobby hates it but criticism goes much deeper. Nearly everyone in Congress objects to the President launching an attack without first consulting Congressional leaders. Presidents Bush (41 & 43) and Clinton were careful to get Congressional approval before committing armed forces.

Worse, the Arab League and the African League both supported a no-fly zone but have backed off from Obama's use of cruse missiles.

Part of the problem is that the President did not make his case to the American People, or anyone else. He simply ordered the start of hostilities and left the country. This leaves several questions unanswered:

What is our mission? Are we trying to remove Gadhafi? What happens if we succeed and the country descends into chaos? Are we actually helping a pro-democracy movement or are we just inserting ourselves into a tribal conflict?

The Obama administration has talked about turning the operation over to NATO quickly. Will our involvement be reduced or will this just give political cover? Turkey is already balking at NATO exceeding its mandate. What happens if NATO fails to accept responsibility for the mission?

Why did we delay so long? The revolt has been going on for most of a month but Gadhafi's forces have been winning. If we had waited another few days there would have been no rebellion to aid. As it is, members of the Obama administration admit that Gadhafi may still be in office at the end of hostilities.

In 2007, candidate Obama said, "The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation." Obviously he changed his mind since then. What changed it? How does he justify this change of heart? The President has cited a UN resolution as his justification. Does this mean that he believes that US resolutions trump Congress and the Constitution?

Why didn't the President cancel his South America tour? He canceled trips to Asia because health care reform was bogged down and because of the BP oil spill. Isn't an attack on Libya on par with those?

And finally, how many people who voted for Obama in 2008 thought that he would involve the nation in a third war after expanding operations in Afghanistan and continuing Bush's policies in Iraq?