I think this essay by Fox News Contributor Christian Whiton wins a Dubious Achievement Award for “logical impairment in criticism” for commentary of Obama’s handling of the Libya crisis.
The author spends the first two thirds of the piece bashing Obama for seeking to use United Nations fora like the Security Council, Human Rights Council, and General Assembly to isolate and punish Qaddafi. According to the author, that is akin to asking for a permission slip to act on Libya. It also apparently means not working with like minded democracies: “working through the Council is the opposite of working with fellow democracies that share our values,” he writes. [emphasis in the original]. (As if it is impossible to work with allies through the Security Council?)
Now, it would be one thing if the author was proposing that the United States lead an international military coalition to intervene in Libya. If you believe this course of action is most likely to advance American interests, you would be rightly upset that the Security Council does not appear to be willing to authorize the use of force in Libya.
But this author is calling for no such thing. In fact, he explicitly makes the case against American military intervention. Rather, he thinks the best course of action is something he calls “political warfare,” which to me sounds strikingly similar to what others might call “diplomacy.”
“Instead, the U.S could wage political warfare in Libya and elsewhere, which involves using largely non-violent means to pressure regimes we loathe without combat.”
I wonder, dear reader, what do you think is a more effective way to pressure regimes?
A) Within a few days of the outbreak of violence turn to a ready-made internationally recognized forum to build a coalition that apparently includes every country in the world and pass legally binding mechanisms to actively apply pressure?
OR
B) Assemble some ad-hoc coalition of countries that resemble your own to oppose a regime?
Obama chose A. This guy apparently thinks B is the way to go. Makes you wonder…