Obama's role in LIbya

I find it amazing to see all of the articles this morning about president Obama's great "victory" in Libya. Hey media, the victory belongs to the Libyan rebels who fought and died, not to the American president who mishandled the matter with the result that thousands died unnecessarily.

No one should forget the start of the Libyan mess. When the protests in Libya first broke out, there were uprisings all over the country. It was an amazing sight to see all these people rising against their government even though they knew that the government could strike back hard against them. The movement by the people was so widespread that it shook the very foundations of the Libyan state. Gaddafi was thrown back on his heels in confusion. Had the USA supported the rebellion at that point (as we had just done in Egypt) the Gaddafi government would likely have fallen without firing a shot. Indeed, Gaddafi was negotiating for a place to flee to and could have been ushered out of Tripoli without all the bloodshed that followed. Of course, Obama was silent. He waited on the sidelines until Gaddafi caught his breath and started attacking the rebels. Even then, he did nothing other than consult with allies and try to move the matter to the United Nations. Five weeks later, action by the "international community" was in place and the NATO air support campaign began. During those five weeks, thousands died. Once NATO started its campaign, thousands more died. All of these deaths could have been avoided if the president had not dithered. All of these deaths could have been avoided if Obama had seen the national interests of the USA lay in the overthrow of Gaddafi, a supporter of terrorism, and acted when the opportunity appeared. And not only that! Obama in recent days has been blaming some of the problems in the economy on the arab spring meaning the cutoff of Libyan oil exports. Had Obama acted quickly when the rebellion first appeared, that cutoff of oil from Libya could also have been avoided. Imagine, Obama's weak and halting foreign policy cost the US economy growth and jobs. I doubt we will hear much about this from the White House; it will be too busy taking credit for someone else's victory.