Obama to explain how he hopes to get lucky with Libya
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Obama won't say we are at war tonight because, according to his new spokesman, it's not war: it's a "kinetic military action." (Andy McCarthy, with characteristic brilliance, now suggests "jihad" should be referred to as "kinetic Islam.")
We cannot know when or how Obama's Libyan kinetic military action of choice will end because, to be charitable, nobody knows what the hell we're doing. Least of all our president.
America went to war as the junior partner in a coalition with the Brits and the French. Sarko was so eager to turn the French air force loose in Libya that he recognized a "government" of the Libyan rebels before "our" coalition was formed, and French bombs were falling before you could say "fromage."
One plucky French pilot scored the first kill on Thursday. The first news reports said that a Libyan aircraft was shot down for violating the no-fly zone.
Later reports confirmed the kill. A French fighter had destroyed a Libyan G-2 Galeb trainer. Which had just landed when the French pilot fired an air-to-ground missile at it, demonstrating the bravery, skill, and daring we expect of the gallant Gauls.
At this point, NATO -- according to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, its secretary general -- will take command of and enforce the entire no-fly zone and arms embargo efforts and "… protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attack from the Gaddafi regime." He added, "NATO will implement all aspects of the UN Resolution. Nothing more, nothing less."
Which, if you'll pardon the expression, leaves everything about the no-fly zone up in the air, and apparently excludes any anti-Gaddafi operations. Our aircraft are supposed to protect innocent civilians (if any such there be, a highly dubious assumption) from Gaddafi's forces (unidentifiable in civilian garb) and then apparently leave old Moammar alone to sulk in his tent.
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While we cannot say we are looking for regime change in Libya, we are doing everything we can, short of sending in the troops, to get it. We may actually get lucky and see the opposition drive Qaddafi into exile at least. The fortunes of war in the desert can move quickly. The opposition is now back where it was a few weeks ago near the outskirts of Tripoli thanks to the efforts of our pilots and those of Britain and France. It is unusual for a raiding strategy to work so quickly. It helps to have a weak opponent.
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