Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

SUN EDITORIAL:

They were for it before …

In their attacks on the president, the Republicans flip-flop on Libya crisis

The Republican criticism of President Barack Obama for his handling of the crisis in Libya has been astounding. The party has gone above and beyond its normal efforts to bash the Democratic president, taking every chance it can to attack.

First, as the situation was unfolding, Obama was called indecisive for not taking action in light of what some Republicans called a humanitarian crisis and a slaughter of Libyans at the hands of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Before the no-fly zone was instituted, Rep. Buck McKeon, a California Republican who heads the Homeland Security Committee, said the president was “doing a great job at nothing.”

Then, as Obama was gathering the support of the United Nations and the international community, Republicans lashed out. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who’s toying with a run for president, said the U.S. “doesn’t need anyone’s permission,” telling Fox News that if he was president, there would be a no-fly zone “this evening.” He added, “All we have to say is that we think that slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and that we’re intervening.”

After France launched the U.N.-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya, Republicans claimed the president’s actions had made the country look “weak,” with several Republicans grumbling about how Obama was allowing other countries to lead.

Now, some Republicans are questioning why the country is even in Libya, claiming there’s a lack of “clarity” on U.S. policy. Republican Rep. Candice Miller of Michigan, a key member of the Homeland Security Committee, called for the United States to pull out of the no-fly zone because there isn’t a “vital national interest at stake which demands our intervention in Libya.”

But don’t believe all of that. Republicans are sadly using an international crisis as a way to try to gain political points. Consider:

• McKeon, who criticized Obama for inaction, now says he is “concerned” with how the president acted. McKeon hasn’t said what he thinks the U.S. should do, he apparently just doesn’t like inaction — or action.

• Gingrich, who was gung-ho to send warplanes to Libya, now says he wouldn’t have intervened. Once willing to go it alone, Gingrich told an interviewer this week he would have instead rallied the Arab League to deal with the situation.

• Despite demanding the U.S. pull out of Libya, Miller made a clear case for U.S. involvement before Obama ordered it. In a statement, she said there had been “unspeakable atrocities committed against countless numbers of the Libyan people who are seeking reform,” arguing that the United States had to “take action to protect our vital interests and support the efforts of those who are seeking freedom across the globe.”

The Republican hypocrisy and double-talk are awful. Their statements have lampooned the real and difficult situations the United States faces around the world. They like to offer simplistic, black-and-white answers to messy situations where there are no easy solutions. Consider former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential hopeful, who recently berated the president’s foreign policy as “nuanced” — as if that’s a bad thing.

Remember: It was former President George W. Bush who famously said, “I don’t do nuance.” And he didn’t — much to the nation’s detriment. Based on faulty evidence, Bush rushed troops into Iraq and the nation is living with the painful and costly consequences.

The way the Republicans have attacked Obama is wrong. This is too serious of an issue to play political games. The nation deserves better.

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