Webb, Corker issue joint resolution on Libya
Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) today introduced a joint resolution requiring the Administration to provide a detailed justification of U.S. operations in Libya and prohibiting the deployment of U.S. troops on the ground there. It further calls on the president to request authorization for the continuation of U.S. involvement in NATO activities and states that Congress should fully debate such a request expediently. Nearly 90 days after the initiation of force in Libya, such debate has not occurred.
The bipartisan resolution states, “The President has failed to provide Congress with a compelling rationale based upon United States national security interests for current United States military activities regarding Libya.” It calls for an unclassified report to provide essential information to Congress and the American public to evaluate U.S. involvement in Libya and appropriately debate it.
“When we examine the conditions under which the President ordered our military into action in Libya, we are faced with the prospect of a very troubling historical precedent that has the potential to haunt us for decades,” said Webb. “The issue for us to consider is whether a President—any President—can unilaterally begin, and continue, a military campaign for reasons that he alone defines as meeting the demanding standards worthy of risking American lives and expending billions of dollars of our taxpayers’ money. It is important for Congress to step in and clearly define the boundaries of our involvement.”
“It has now been more than 80 days since the United States first launched military action in Libya in what was supposed to be only a very limited operation, but neither the Congress nor the American people have any clearer view of the administration’s stated mission or end game for our military involvement in Libya. Having been denied answers, repeatedly, to these fundamental questions or even a comprehensive debate to consider the merits of U.S. involvement in such an engagement, it’s long past time to set a final deadline to get the information every man and woman who puts on a uniform and every taxpayer who funds the operation deserves,” Corker said.
The joint resolution, which would have the force of law, requires the Administration to publicly answer a detailed series of questions about the Libya operation within 14 days of enactment. Parts of the resolution mirror bills passed in the House of Representatives.
Webb: Involvement in Libya not administration’s prerogative
U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell today that there are “legitimate questions” about the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s move to involve the United States in the UN intervention in Libya.
“What we have seen in Libya is different than a lot of the other examples that people have been talking about. Traditionally, the president can take unilateral action if you have a direct attack, an imminent attack, or in order to rescue Americans, as President Reagan did in the Grenada operation, or in retaliation for an attack on Americans around the world, as we did against Libya when I was in the Pentagon in 1986. This is a situation that is either an uprising or a civil war in which Americans were not involved,” said Webb, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees and a former Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration in the 1980s.
Webb said the next step is to “figure out the dynamic on the ground” in Libya amid reports from military officials that dictator Muammar Qaddafi is not considered to be close to giving up control of the country that he has led for more than 30 years.
“There is either going to be a stalemate or Qaddafi is going to fall. Either of those cases presents very serious challenges for us in terms of what we are going to do here in the next month or two,” said Webb, calling for the administration to be more forthcoming to Congress on Libya in the coming days and weeks.
“We need to understand clearly what it is that we are going to attempt to do if there is a stalemate or if the regime is overthrown. There is more than likely going to have to be some sort of a multi-national force in Libya, unless this remains a volatile combat situation for quite some time. Even then, what are we going to do? There are calls for arming the rebels. There are calls for other countries to come in and become militarily involved. This is not simply the prerogative of the executive branch of the government when you reach the situation that we are in right now,” Webb said.
Webb on Libya: No clear sense of direction
Virginia Sen. Jim Webb is offering sharp criticism of the handling of the ongoing crisis in Libya that escalated over the weekend with the launch of air strikes against key military installations of the Muammar Qaddafi regime.
Speaking with MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on Monday, Webb, a military veteran and former Secretary of the Navy, focused his criticism of the intervention by Western powers on the lack of “a clear diplomatic policy or a clear statement of foreign policy” accompanying the military operation.
Internal unrest in Libya has been met by the Qaddafi regime with brutal force. Opposition groups have cobbled together a working coalition, but their efforts are tenuous in a country that has been ruled by the unpredictable Qaddafi for more than 40 years.
“We know we don’t like the Gadhafi regime, but we do not have a clear picture of who the opposition movement really is,” Webb said.
“I really don’t believe that we have an obligation to get involved in every single occurrence in that part of the world,” Webb said. “And this issue is of much more economic importance, quite frankly, to Britain and France. Libyan oil, even though it’s only 2% of the world’s output, is a very light oil. It’s much more easily refined and the factories in Europe are not geared up for some of the heavier crude that comes out of Saudi Arabia, for instance. They have much more of an interest in terms of conducting military operations. We don’t have to get involved in every one of these.”
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Chris Graham: Middle East uprisings-A bad thing?
I’m having a hard time figuring this out – the notion that the popular uprisings against tyrannical regimes in the Middle East is a bad thing for the United States. Seriously, are we that set on how much a gallon of gas costs here?
Apparently so. I mean, I can understand the concern – that a power vacuum can just as easily be filled by nefarious forces, the Muslim Brotherhoods and Al-Qaedas of the world, as it can the forces of liberty et al.
That said, what I see going on here is a long-term trend that is very much in line with Western interests. These uprisings are being led by young Arabs who are better-educated and much more open-minded than their parents and grandparents – and have come of age in a world in which they have been exposed to so much more of the world than their immediate and more distant predecessors.
Which is to say, they’re not pushing for change as much as they’re pushing for a world that they know exists outside of their national borders to be their world.
Instability is always dangerous in the short term, no question. Long term, isn’t this what we have been saying we as Americans want for our brothers and sisters on the global stage – to follow the example of representative democracy that we’re still trying to work to get better at after a couple of hundred years of putting it to practice?
More columns by Chris Graham at TheWorldAccordingToChrisGraham.com.
The AFP on WREL: Finality?
Posted by afp on April 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment
The segment begins with a look at recent activity in Richmond regarding legislation passed in the 2011 Virginia General Assembly session – specifically looking at Gov. Bob McDonnell’s budget amendment cutting funding for public broadcasting. Will the governor finally get his way on a long-time political rallying point for conservatives? Chris thinks he just might.
The talk shifts to Jim Webb and his criticisms of the Obama administration for its Libya policies – then wraps with a look at VCU’s chances to bring home a basketball national title in this weekend’s Final Four.
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with bob mcdonnell, final four, jim webb, libya, public broadcasting, vcu basketball