Obama and the Constitution: The Libyan Failure
Nearly everything President Obama has done regarding Libya has been wrong. First he unconstitutionally put U.S. military personnel under NATO commanders to invade the country. Now we’re learning that the murder of a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi was (contrary to administration claims) an act of terrorism that the administration knew about all along. Libya is the crowning achievement of Obama’s failed foreign policy.
Obama had declared that the U.S. would be the world leader in supporting democracy. But when Libyan rebels began efforts to overthrow ruler Moammar Gaddhafi, Obama needed to be prodded by France to join the NATO coalition aiding the rebels.
Obama had declared that the U.S. would not commit military forces to any country that didn’t threaten U.S. interests. But he committed U.S. troops to Libya, despite the assertion by Robert Gates, Obama’s own defense secretary, that Libya posed no threat to U.S. national security.
Obama had declared that he would not make George W. Bush’s mistake of invading Muslim countries just to depose brutal dictators. But he committed U.S. troops just to topple Gaddhafi. Other than being weaker, Obama’s foreign policy has been strangely similar to Bush’s.
When Obama committed U.S. troops to join NATO in overthrowing Gaddhafi, little attention was given to the fact that the rebels opposing Gaddhafi were affiliated with al-Qaeda. Why were we siding with our sworn enemy in Libya?
Obama violated both the Constitution and the War Powers Act by committing troops to a foreign legation without congressional consent. At least George W. Bush received congressional approval to invade Iraq; Obama didn’t even bother to ask. Even U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed a legal opinion that Obama needed congressional authorization to continue the U.S. commitment. When Obama didn’t like that ruling, he got a second opinion from the State Department, which endorsed his dictatorial deployment.
Obama justified U.S. intervention by stating we had a “responsibility to protect” human life in Libya. But then why has Obama done little about Syria, where a civil war is raging that’s even more terrible than Libya’s? Instead of taking a firm stand on Syria, Obama meekly complied with the United Nations, where Syria’s allies Russia and China vetoed a resolution calling for U.N. intervention. This lack of consistency is not lost on world leaders.
Since Gaddhafi has been toppled in Libya, a new, equally oppressive regime has taken power. The Libyan people haven’t been liberated; they’ve just been put under a different dictatorship. So much for protecting human life in Libya, but that’s the typical result of a foreign policy predicated on “leading from behind.”
We are beginning to see the result of this failed policy: the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed on the anniversary of 9/11. The Obama administration took no action to stop the attack until eight hours after it began. But emails were sent to the White House, the Pentagon, the FBI, and the CIA two hours after the attack began. The administration did nothing for six hours, during which time drones filmed the attack in real time and four Americans were killed.
The emails reported the attack, requested assistance, and named Ansar al-Sharia (an affiliate of al-Qaeda) as claiming responsibility. This suggests it was a premeditated act of terror. But for five days after the attack, Obama’s U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice, claimed it was a “spontaneous” reaction to an anti-Islam video. Obama himself suggested the same thing in an address to the U.N. This directly contradicts the contents of the emails sent just two hours after the attack began.
Several State Department employees testified that the U.S. embassy in Libya had requested additional security for several months, especially considering the anniversary of 9/11 was coming. But not only did the Obama administration ignore these requests, both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden denied they ever knew the requests had been made. How could Obama and Biden not know that their Libyan embassy, which had been a prior target of threats and demonstrations, need extra security for 9/11?
By first pleading ignorance about the attack, and then calling it a “spontaneous” reaction against a video, the Obama administration has clearly lied to the American public ever since the tragic event took place. This demonstrates that Obama should have never committed U.S. military personnel to Libya in the first place. It also demonstrates Obama’s blatant disregard for the Constitution, and his foreign policy failures will only bring more tragedies and disasters if he is reelected.
