l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 By James G. Wiles
Mark Halperin is wrong. He's not a "dick." He's a wuss, and the story of
how he just wussed out has not really been told.
In a series of articles and posts here beginning back on March 8, I've
followed the reported movements of the U.S. Navy's carrier strike groups
around the world, arguing that they offer the best clue to President Barack
Obama's strategic thinking on America's proper role in the world.
This was undertaken as a thought experiment.
At the time, the Arab Spring had broken across the Middle East. Libya, it
seemed to me, presented a fair test of Mr. Obama's intentions -- announced
in his 2009 Cairo speech -- as to whether he wished to be perceived (and to
act) as the Leader of the Free World. An important article on this topic by
a disillusioned Yale professor appears this week in the New York Review of
Books.
On March 8, as NATO began its UN-authorized humanitarian intervention in
Libya, I highlighted the fact that (a) the United States had no capital
ships (supercarriers or helicopter carriers) in the Mediterranean and (b)
that, with the only carriers then at sea being deployed in the North Arabian
Sea, the U.S. Navy was not -- contrary to doctrine -- forward-deployed. On
May 4, after the U.S.'s successful targeted assassination of Osama bin
Laden (which made use of the essential presence offshore of the USS Carl
Vinson Carrier Strike Group, I congratulated Mr. Obama. Over the next two
months, via public information I tracked the movement of America's newest
supercarrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, and her CSG as they made their way
from Norfolk into the Central Med.
At the same time, on May 31, I noted the slow assembly there of a NATO
flotilla consisting of three European helicopter carriers and the French
nuclear supercarrier Charles de Gaulle. By the time the Bush CSG arrived
off Libya, they had been joined by the USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group.
That comprised three amphibious ships of various capabilities, helicopters,
hovercraft, landing craft, and 2,000 Marines.
Suddenly, all the military preconditions set back in March by outgoing U.S.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for decisive action in Libya had been
fulfilled. On the morning of June 15, AT's headline read: "Good morning,
Muammar!"
"Game on" seemed a real possibility. On June 21, I noted that President
Obama, in responding to Congress' demand under the War Powers Resolution,
had carefully left himself free to exercise a military option in Libya
without seeking prior authorization from Capitol Hill.
This past week, the last legal requirement for action under the UN's new
international norms of R2P fell into place. The International Criminal
Courts issued international arrest warrants for Gaddafi and his two sons.
With a UN Security Council resolution already in hand authorizing "all
necessary means," the stage was now set for a Libyan replay of George H.W.
Bush's invasion of Panama to arrest General Noriega on an American
indictment.
On Thursday, however, word got out: President Obama has just voted "present."
The George H.W. Bush CSG is now in the North Arabian Sea. The Enterprise
and her CSG have gone ashore to spawn in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. She's
heading home. On the Enterprise's Facebook page, there's a picture of the
two supercarriers passing each other in the Strait of Babel Mendev.
At the same time, the President announced that, rejecting the advice of all
his generals, he'd ordered an accelerated pull-out from Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the U.S. just sustained its deadliest month in Iraq since 2008.
With Mr. Obama at record lows in the poll numbers, the Fourth of July
weekend loomed.
Well, the thought experiment is over. We have our answer.
Stay the course in the War with Jihad?
Nope.
Leader of the Free World?
Nope.
No wonder Muammar Gaddafi was out threatening Europe on Friday. The
President of the United States just walked away from the best opportunity
for taking him out. At the moment, Brother Leader is seeing off the
greatest concentration of naval and military force in the Central Med since
World War II.
Sic transit gloria americae. At least until January, 2013.
Goodnight, Mr. President. You flunked our little test.
And thanks to all the interested AT readers who -- sometimes incredulously -
- shared this journey with me. You educated me with your comments. I look
forward to continuing to walk this road with you. |
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