Jed Babbin on the Libya Disaster

Last week, two competing resolutions were brought to the House floor in an attempt to reign in Obama's disastrous intervention on behalf of the Al-Qaeda backed rebels in Libya.  Ironically, the prudent resolution-the one which would have brought an end to this madness-was offered by far-leftist Dennis Kucinich.

The other resolution, a mere rebuke of the President's callous disregard of congressional council, was offered by John Boehner.  This resolution was a banal attempt to oppose Obama without offering a bold and categorical rejection of the entire Libyan folly.  87 Republicans, mainly conservatives, supported Kucinich's robust resolution.  Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal excoriated these conservative by tainting them with the epithet, "Dennis Kucinich Republicans".

Today, in our series of must read articles, Jed Babbin offered a sagacious rebuttal of the WSJ critque, arguing that Boehner's alternative resolution was vapid political theater, and the 87 Republican dissenters are on the right side of history:

Kucinich's resolution would have forced Obama to withdraw U.S. forces from the Libya operation unless he received congressional authorization. Speaker Boehner's competing resolution merely chastised the president for not providing a compelling rationale for the Libya war and demanded that Obama answer questions on the commitment of forces and what they cost.

Kucinich's resolution failed but 87 Republicans voted for it, including Gohmert and dozens of Republican freshmen. Boehner's timid resolution passed.

In a floor speech, Gohmert said he preferred to do on Libya what the Democrats did in 1974: to cut off funding for the war. In a masterful understatement he said, "Unfortunately we have a president who cared more about what the Arab League and the UN thought than he did his own elected Congress…. We know from the rules of the House the president wouldn't lie, but he sure is misrepresenting things."...

Republicans have to wake up and take on Obama's policy on the war terrorist nations wage against us. Boehner's Oliver resolution on Libya is precisely the wrong approach. It would be better for Republicans, and for the nation, if they took Obama on directly and tried to do what Gohmert prefers: set a date beyond which funding for the Libya operation will end. And make that date somewhere between July 4th and Labor Day.