Obama's Libyan juggling act reaches a moment of truth

Panic: rebel fighters in hasty retreat after an exchange of fire near Brega in eastern Libya
12 April 2012

It was Sarah Palin who put her finger on it. "Are we at war?" she asked on Fox News, after Obama's address to the nation on Monday: "I haven't heard the President say we are at war. And that's why I too am not knowing. Do we use the term intervention? Do we use war? Do we use squirmish? What is it?"

Undoubtedly the intervention in Libya has elements of a squirmish, not least because Obama's address passed lightly over the covert side of American support for the anti-Gaddafi rebels. The President did not say - what was later reported by Reuters - that he had already put in place the authorisation for covert CIA operations. He did not say that the British and the Americans already had operatives on the ground. And he did not promise wholesale arming of the rebel forces.

What he promised was that the United States "will play a supporting role - including intelligence, logistical support, search and rescue assistance and capabilities to jam regime communications". That's the list, but it does not have to be the whole list. As singer-songwriter Tom Waits put it: "The large print giveth, the small print taketh away."

And in this case what the small print taketh away is the certainty either that American involvement will not extend to troops on the ground, or that in arming the rebels the US might not be putting guns in the hands of some unsavoury types. This is what, for some people, makes it a squirmish.

Look at it, though, from the domestic American point of view. Obama is still widely disapproved of for his performance as President - on average just under 50 per cent are critical of him. And yet his political opponents have not really managed to mount an effective attack on his Libya policy, as it has gradually been revealed over the last weeks.

For a while, absent from Washington and fulfilling a prior South American engagement, he allowed himself to be vulnerable, or to be perceived as having failed to explain himself, failed to communicate to the people. But this, if true, would have been a minor failing in comparison with the big prize on offer.

Suppose he failed to explain himself but were nevertheless to succeed in toppling Gaddafi - who, after decades of American rhetoric, could withhold his praise? After all, this is an old story that is coming to its climax. Ronald Reagan long ago bombed Tripoli but even the sainted Reagan did not harm Gaddafi.

Obama's achievement so far has been hard for the Republicans to attack because, quite simply, in his position they would dearly have loved to do as well: to have put a coalition in place, to have intervened on behalf of the rebels (with however uncertain results), to be watching now as Libyan defections reach the highest level. Who could have aspired to do as much?

The first prominent Republican to make a fool of himself over this issue was Newt Gingrich, who managed to contradict himself in the course of a fortnight on the question of intervention. But few others have done much better. Congressman Tom Marino, a freshman who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, asked of Obama's Libyan intervention: "Where does it stop? Do we go into Africa next?"

Palin, in the course of the television interview quoted above, suddenly began to wonder whether Obama had after all begun to "get it" when he made a reference to the North Star. She was excited because the North Star, on the Alaskan flag, represents Alaska. She herself, she said, was always talking about the North Star.

But Palin was responding to the wrong dog-whistle. The North Star, in Obama's usage, was the star that guided the slaves on their journey north towards freedom in the days of the Underground Railroad. And the North Star to which Obama was referring on Monday night was a policy of strength at home first - "the ability of our people to reach their potential, to make wise choices with our resources, to enlarge the prosperity that serves as a wellspring for our power".

Domestic strength comes first. Nor should America, in great matters of foreign policy, always try to go it alone: "Real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well; to work with allies and partners so that they bear their share of the burden and pay their share of the costs; and to see that the principles of justice and human dignity are upheld by all."

So America would play a role, but not a solo role, and would work in favour of change, but not try to go, as in Iraq, for regime change. "The United States will not be able to dictate the pace and scope of this change. Only the people of the region can do that. But we can make a difference."

This kind of talk - that it is up to the people of Libya to do the job - comes across better when the ragtag army of rebels is moving westward towards Sirte than it does on days of panic and retreat. Everyone wants the people of Libya to do the job, as long as the job in question is well understood to be the elimination of the dictator.

On days when fortunes are reversed, and the wrong kind of Libyans are in the ascendancy, then people hope - how can they not hope? - that the right precautions have been taken and that the small print will, as it were, kick in. It is on such days that we tend to learn that the covert side of the policy has long since been in place.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in