The president’s actions on Libya are disturbing

Martin Dean Dupalo, Las Vegas

Friday, March 25, 2011 | 2:03 a.m.

As a former Air Force intelligence officer, I believe what has occurred in Libya has been far greater than the Obama administration’s publicly announced “no-fly zone.” It is an attack zone that few envisioned or voted for at the United Nations, the Arab League, NATO and elsewhere, particularly in the United States.

This is not a case of what is commonly referred to as “mission creep” but a thinly veiled duplicitous policy of public posturing and presidential hope involving military action.

Early in the uprising, there was a flowering hope that the Libyan people would continue the advance on Moammar Gadhafi, but this wilted quickly and exposed those same rebels and civilians to certain torture, incarceration and death. Nonetheless, positioning U.S. actions as a humanitarian effort is off base.

Although a U.S. military no-fly zone is more comprehensive than most contemplate — suppressing opposition air power, including destroying integrated air defense systems and command and control — it does not include the military strikes currently under way against ground targets.

As a political scientist, it also is disturbing that a president, who campaigned on the necessity of informing Congress and obtaining consent for military action, did not do so in this case. There was a window and ample amount of time to accomplish this domestic measure. However, he did follow with military action after receiving United Nations’ approval.

Although President Barack Obama attempted to separate his military action politically from those of his predecessor by stating that the United States will not send ground troops and that it will quickly depart the area of operations, he guaranteed prolonging the conflict. This major faux pas of stating your own self-imposed limitations may soothe his domestic political constituency; it only helps the enemy.