Many Americans may be only faintly aware that the United States has supported international air attacks on the North African country of Libya in recent months.
And many surely do not know why.
So Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., appropriately have called upon the Obama administration to provide an explanation and justification for its decision to have our military take part in the attacks – and have urged Congress to prohibit any use of U.S. ground troops in Libya.
Americans realize that Libya’s ruler, Moammar Gadhafi, is a dictator, and we can understand why some of his people are in rebellion, seeking to depose him. But should American military forces have intervened in Libya’s civil war – without congressional debate and approval, and without a clear threat by Libya to U.S. interests?
Corker and Webb on Wednesday introduced a joint congressional resolution declaring, “The president has failed to provide Congress with a compelling rationale based upon United States national security interests for current United States military activities regarding Libya.”