On Libya, Obama Speaks to the Nation: "We Cannot Turn Our Backs on the World"

Colonel Gadhafi will crumble under the steady trickle of allies’ military action and the tremendous pressure of isolation, but there will be no land operation to overthrow him. Military action will remain limited and America will continue to take a step back, leaving command to NATO. By the end, Gadhafi’s regime will collapse onto itself and the actions of the coalition will have been a success. This was Barack Obama’s prediction in an important speech to the nation last night from the National Defense University in Washington, the longest and most complex speech given on the crisis in the Middle East since the first signs of the Tunisian uprising.

The American president reclaimed the leadership role in his country and reconstructed the structure of the military and strategic case against the Libyan dictator step by step: “History is on the move in the Middle East and North Africa, and… young people are leading the way. Because wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States. Ultimately it is that faith — those ideals — that are the true measure of American leadership….It can be tempting to turn away from the world….But let us also remember that for generations, we have done the hard work of protecting our own people, as well as millions around the globe. We have done so because we know that our own future is safer and brighter if more of mankind can live with the bright light of freedom and dignity.”

Obama, already burdened with two wars costing thousands of billions of dollars and thousands of casualties, spoke to a country that is tired of fighting and concerned with unemployment and debt as an aftermath of a financial crisis. He communicated a sudden urgency to protect the Libyan population and in particular the city of Benghazi, with 700,000 inhabitants, from a massacre which would be a violation of the U.N. resolution. He praised the synchronization and unity of an international coalition, which acted on the order of the United Nations, and said in explicit terms that the international community cannot allow itself to be taunted by Tripoli. “Libya sits directly between Tunisia and Egypt — two nations that inspired the world when their people rose up to take control of their own destiny…Two countries in a peaceful — yet fragile — transition….We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi… could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world. It was not in our national interest to let that happen. I refused to let that happen. And so nine days ago, after consulting the bipartisan leadership of Congress, I authorized military action to stop the killing and enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973. We struck regime forces… and Gadhafi’s troops… We have stopped Gadhafi’s deadly advance.”

Overlooking the controversy, to the president’s commitment and the logic of a controlled attack, the necessity to give a clear signal to the rest of the world has prevailed. “We are on the side of youth and freedom,” says Obama in another address. “We cannot hide this.” *

After the speech, there remain some doubts about certain aspects of this strategy: ex-post opportunism, or a true choice carefully thought over in cold blood? Senator McCain, for example, questioned what was needed last night to reassure Gadhafi of the fact that the operation would be minimal. “Tonight he will sleep soundly, he will dream of how he could be like Saddam Hussein, remaining in absolute power within his stronghold.” Then, in an argumentative tone, he said, “Furthermore I would like to add that the president was not so secure from the outset, on the contrary….we must thank Hillary Clinton and the actions of France and Great Britain in the event that the White House decides to intervene.”

Perhaps. However, it is true that Obama’s objectives at the end of the first day of the Libyan crisis have been achieved with precision and methodology. Before attacking, the president wanted to establish international legislation; he wanted to have the approval of the Arab world to create a wide-reaching coalition. “Tomorrow, Secretary Clinton will go to London, where she will meet with the Libyan opposition and consult with more than 30 nations,” Obama confirmed. These objectives were clearly laid out by the White House at the end of the first day that the president stated in person that Gadhafi must go.

We know what happens from here: Comments in bad faith, or that are ill-informed, both from the opposition and the show-off Democrats on the slowness of the president to react, his hesitancy and his lack of courage. But Obama is a methodological man. He’s “cool,” as the kids say. He has followed his path to find those who criticized his slowness and his high risks with attacks that were not authorized by Congress. The overall theme of yesterday was Libyan, but the underlying message was for the entire Arab world, Syria and many countries in the Gulf, in a contest of contagiousness which will not rest at North Africa, but which will no doubt spread to the Gulf — and maybe all the way to Iran, who will watch the developments with apprehension and come to the realization that the message coming from Libya is one, above all, for the Ayatollah.

* Editor’s Note: This quote, properly translated, could not be verified.