Last Updated: 9:00 AM, March 5, 2011
Posted: March 05, 201
NEW YORK POST
NO CLUE
On how to handle North Korea
Nor Iran, nor terrorism
Nor the economy
As violence raged on and blood flowed freely in Libya yesterday, President Obama and his key advisers redou bled their head-scratching, giving every impression of working hard to figure out just what the heck to try next.
With luck, perhaps someday soon, they will stumble on some semblance of a coherent policy for influencing events in one of the most strategically vital regions of the world. How nice.
Those who think highly of Obama should be troubled. Everyone else should be worried sick -- starting with the victims of Moammar Khadafy's brutal rampage, who are paying the steepest price for Obama's nonchalance.
Dozens were reported killed just yesterday, including up to 30 civilians, in Zawiya. Hospitals are rapidly filling up.
Libyan jets bombed the rebel-held towns of Brega and Ajbadiya. Fleeing refugees number in the tens of thousands.
Not to worry: The US is considering a "full range" of military and nonmilitary actions, the president says. On Thursday, he even got around to asking the wacky Libyan strongman to step down.
"Moammar el-Khadafy," Obama huffed, "has lost the legitimacy to lead" -- as if the dictator ever had any. "He must leave." (Too bad the prez didn't spell out the "or else" part that should follow.) Sheesh! Doesn't anyone on Obama's team have a clue about the extent of the unfolding chaos -- and an idea of what needs to be done?
Make no mistake: Libyans won't be the only ones to suffer as America retreats from its traditional role as a world leader. Particularly as its enemies (Iran and assorted Islamists) surely are already busy as beavers steering events -- in Libya and beyond -- to their advantage.
No, we won't pretend to have a ready prescription for this admittedly vexing challenge. But then, we're not sitting atop a massive Pentagon, State Department, national-security-intel infrastructure.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, by contrast, was quick this week to shoot down the idea (oddly pushed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) of a no-fly zone.
Fine. So what's he suggest? His staff must have contingency plans, no?
Once upon a time, a US president was seen as "the Leader of the Free World."
Obama may shun that title, but he nonetheless owes the world some leadership. A lot of folks are desperate for it.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/still_clueless_on_libya_qAgATprtngfHq040Ie4NrN#ixzz1FsoOFQDu
