Hypocrisy on Libya is Mind Boggling

Given the bellowing from Republicans and Fox Noise, you'd think President Barack Obama had invaded China.

How dare he take military action without congressional consent! We can't afford it! We don't even know who the rebels are!

Of course if Obama hadn't interceded, especially after Arab League requests and there was a massacre in Benghazi, this is what we'd be hearing: Lack of leadership! He vacillated while thousands died! Couldn't handle the 3 AM phone call!

Two weeks ago Newt "look at me! look at me!" Gingrich and other Grand Old Panderers were savaging Obama for dithering. Now that he's acted, it's an abomination! Even Sen. Lindsey Graham R-S.C. expressed little patience with fellow Republicans' hypocrisy.

Where to start. Congressional consent. Do Republicans really want to go there? Case in point, Ronald Reagan's and George H. W. Bush's various 1980s exploits in Nicaragua -- you do recall Iran-contra -- Grenada and Panama without so much as a howdy-do to congress. Oh, yeah and Libya? Reagan bombed it 25 years ago with neither congressional authorization nor UN or Arab League approval.

Ah, the cost. These are the same guys who allowed George W. Bush to run two full tilt boogey wars on credit cards, which along with his disastrous tax cuts for the wealthy, dropped a $1.2 trillion deficit in Obama's lap on his first day in office. And they have the audacity to carp about spending a measly billion dollars to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and possibly lead to Qaddifi's overthrow. Astounding!

Finally, who are the rebels? True, it isn't clear who they are and would be a good question by Republicans if it were asked for clarification and not just as a political zinger. It also might carry more clout if it weren't for their sorry history on the subject.

Not only didn't the Bush administration know the players in Iraq in 2003 -- at the time several senior officials couldn't distinguish between Sunnis and Shias -- they also didn't know anything about RÄfid Ahmad AlwÄn. He became the notorious "Curveball" upon whose totally bogus testimony about Saddam's WMD Bush invaded Iraq. Incredibly, no senior American intelligence officer had ever bothered to speak with Curveball.

I don't know if it makes sense interceding in Libya. Above my pay grade. But if we were going to do it, Obama played it pretty well. It has limited, and more importantly, achievable objectives and multinational support; hence Libya and not Syria or Iran. Obama lined up all the ducks, provided our unique capabilities to our allies who do consider Libya of vital interest and now we've backed out of our leadership role just as he said he would.

Tell me you ain't buying this Republican bag of hooey.