March 24, 2011
The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama didn’t make much sense, and it became ironic immediately as he devoted his acceptance speech to a discussion of war. It has become more so as we have escalated the war in Afghanistan and now have joined, in some ill-defined way, in bombing Lybia. In an interview on Wednesday, the President acknowledged this: he “noted the irony of being a Nobel peace prize winner who ordered the US military into action on the eighth anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but he said the goal in this case was humanitarian.” The “immediate goal” was to prevent Qaddafi's army from conducting an attack on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.22 What is the ultimate goal? Is it merely humanitarian or is it strategic: a desire, to borrow a phrase, for regime change? If it is the former, it is selective; if the latter, dubious.
General Carter Ham, the US commander for Africa, seems to believe the first. He has said that the mission is to protect civilians, not to support the opposition, that Qaddafi has not been targeted and that we are not looking for him. The General said that Qaddafi might remain in power after this exercise.
However, the President said on Tuesday, “It is U.S. policy that Qaddafi needs to go.”23 He has stated that, at least as an aim, before. On Wednesday, although making the statements above, he returned to the regime-change mantra: "Keep in mind we don't just have military tools at our disposal in terms of accomplishing Qaddafi's leaving. We've put in place strong international sanctions. We've frozen his assets. We will continue to apply a whole range of pressure on him."
Mr. Obama added this to his comment about the Nobel Prize: "I'm accustomed to this contradiction of being both a commander-in-chief but also somebody who aspires to peace. We're not invading a country, we are not acting alone. "We are acting under a mandate issued by the UN security council." Possibly apart from the denial of an invasion, that statement, and the one above, are straight out of the Bush playbook: Mr. Bush also told us that, though patient, he had lots of tools at his disposal; although a war president, he declared himself to be a man of peace; we did not act alone in Iraq but had a vast coalition; although there was no direct UN mandate, violation of earlier UN resolutions was sometimes the excuse for the Iraq war. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq received the blessing of Congress, however indirectly stated and, in the case of Iraq, deceptively acquired and imprudently granted. The current operation was launched by the President with no pretense of advice and consent, let alone a declaration of war. The criticism that he was too slow or irresolute could be defended only on a world-policeman theory, and is inconsistent with the complaints now emerging about not seeking Congressional approval. The decision was, if anything, made with too little thought and reflection; it seems to have been almost off-handed, and it has engaged the President’s attention only occasionally.
Perhaps the results will be positive on balance, but if so, that will be by accident.
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