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Politico...
Senate Democrats
defend Obama on Libya
By John Breshnahan
Top Senate Democrats came to President Barack Obama’s defense on the
Libya bombing campaign Wednesday, insisting that the U.S. participation
in the operation was limited and would soon end.
In a conference call designed to address growing criticism from all
corners of Congress, Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.),
the chairman and a top member of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) all offered strong support to Obama’s decision
to have U.S. forces attack units loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi
as part of an international coalition led by NATO allies Britain and
France.
The fact that a trio of top Senate Democrats — who were highly critical
of President George W. Bush’s conduct of the war in Iraq — felt
compelled to defend a Democratic president who’s launched a new war
front shows just how worried some Democrats are about the Libya
military action. In fact, Durbin went as far as comparing Obama’s
action in Libya to President George H. W. Bush’s international
coalition in the first Persian Gulf War.
The three Democratic senators are among the few congressional leaders
in either party to come out in strong support of Obama’s plan for the
Libyan campaign so far. Republican leaders have been largely silent,
and House Democratic leaders have been tepid in their statements.
Durbin said Obama worked to build an “international base of support”
among U.S. allies and Arab nations before authorizing any U.S. attack
on Qadhafi forces, and the Illinois Democrat added that he believed it
would be a short-lived military campaign for American air and naval
units alone.
“I think a this point in time, the reports are positive about what we
have done, and they are certainly are positive in terms of the
coalition we have put together,” Durbin told reporters on Wednesday.
“I might say that I think this is a very wise course and is reminiscent
of George Herbert Walker [Bush’s] effort before our involvement in
Kuwait [in 1991], where he lined up support from across the board
through the United Nations before any military action was commenced,”
Durbin added.
Read the rest of the story at Politico
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