As repugnant as Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is, some of the rebels seeking to oust him may not be any better. Allowing deliberations on that question is one more reason why President Barack Obama should not have gone to war in Libya without the constitutionally required congressional declaration of war.
U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, NATO's top commander, recently told a Senate panel there are at least "flickers" of the terrorist groups al-Qaida and Hezbollah in the rebel forces. And even the president now acknowledges there may be "elements that are unfriendly to the United States and our interests."
The details are sketchy, and some of the rebels undoubtedly are rightly motivated. But these matters should have been discussed openly before the president committed the United States to military action in Libya.
And with our country facing no imminent threat from Libya, that action should not have been taken at all without Congress' approval.