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The Obama Doctrine Defined
Commentary Magazine, July/August 2011
June 29, 2011
by Seth Cropsey
,
Douglas J. Feith
The words "vacillating" and "aimless" are commonly used by both left and right to describe President Barack Obama's approach to the Libya war. His political friends and foes alike lament that he has no clear goal in Libya—and that, by failing to articulate one, he is revealing his unease at having been dragged into the fight to oust the regime of Muammar Qaddafi.
Democratic Senator James Webb of Virginia issued a press release on March 21, 2011, noting that the U.S. mission in Libya "lacks clarity." Former Republican Senator Slade Gorton wrote in the Washington Post: "We should never enter a war halfway and with an indecisive goal. Regrettably, that is where we stand today."
The criticism has some validity, but it misses an important point: the administration's approach has logic and coherence in the service of strategic considerations that extend far beyond Libya. . . .
Click here to read the full text of this article.
Seth Cropsey is a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute. Previously, he served as Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy during both the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.
Douglas Feith, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2001 to 2005, is a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute and the author of War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism.
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Foreign Policy, International Security, Obama, Obama Administration, U.S. Politics, U.S. SecurityShare