Today’s Politico The Arena question asks:
“Do the [Libyan] rebel advances vindicate President Barack Obama‘s “lead from behind” strategy of using allied air bombings to soften up the Qadhafi defenses, while rebel groups undertook the actual ground fighting? Does it give the president an advantage over Republicans rivals who have criticized his leadership on Libya, including Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann?”
BENJAMIN: (Read more here)
First, President Obama did not implement a “lead from behind” strategy; he used a multilateral alliance with trusted NATO allies.
Second, President Obama proved himself to be a decisive commander-in-chief, unlike Bill Clinton (e.g., Bosnia, Somalia). Obama would not allow the presidency to be handcuffed by an unconstitutional War Powers Act. Obama’s Republican critics are just critics without substance.
The apparent success in ousting Moammar Khadafy is due in part to Libya’s pariah status, its absence of regional allies, and French President Sarkozy‘s commitment to the NATO air campaign.
The myth of President Obama’s indecision and lack of leadership are dispelled by the facts. Bin Laden is dead, the Somali pirates who seized the Maersk Alabama are dead, US automakers are alive, and Obama’s fiscal and monetary policies prevented a national depression.
But facts are alien and irrelevant to a field of Republican candidates who dismiss global warming, evolution, Keynesian economics, civil rights, and federalism as unproven.
I’ll take Obama, warts and all, over this field of know-nothing GOP candidates.
