General Colin Powell’s enduring contribution to American Foreign Policy is the Powell Doctrine which states that the following questions must be answered before military action may be taken by the United States:
1.Is a vital national security interest threatened?
2. Do we have a clear attainable objective?
3.Have the risks and costs been fully analyzed?
4.Have all other non-violent means been fully exhausted?
5. Is there a plausible exit strategy?
6. Have the consequences of our actions been fully considered?
7. Is the action supported by the American people?
8. Do we have genuine broad international support?
The Powell Doctrine has three main precepts: (1) Avoid Mission Creep; (2) Clearly define our goals; (3) plan an exit strategy before engaging the enemy. Obama’s Libyan intervention flunks on all three counts.
Avoid Mission Creep: Its too late for that now, the mission has already crept, it was sold as a “No Fly Zone” over Libya to stop Qaddafi’s Air Force from pounding rebel positions—even the odds. Of course, there would be a need to neutralize Qaddafi’s air defenses to protect our planes as they patrolled the skies over Libya but already its clear, that we’re bombing everything in sight.
Defined War Goals: The only one stated is to protect innocent civilians from Qaddafi’s Military, how are we going to fully implement this strategy from the air remains unanswered. In any event, Obama seems to be fully confused between his stated goal of regime change saying that Qaddafi must leave Libya on the one hand and protecting civilians.
More here Obama’s Libya War Flunks Powell Doctrine Test –Dick Morris
If it is now the stated foreign policy of the United States to protect civilians from Islamic Terrorist Thugs such as Qaddafi, why hasn’t Obama inserted the U.S. Military into the skies over American ally Israel, protecting innocent civilians from the bombardment of Grad type rockets fired by Islamic Terrorist Thugs from Gaza into Ashkelon?
While Libyan Dictator Qaddafi is most certainly a legitimate target by the United States for his complicity in the murders of 269 innocent people and Andrea Rosenthal, who were murdered on Pan Am 103 when a bomb exploded aboard the aircraft on the 21 December, 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland the stated purpose of Obama’s prosecution of the new front in Libya, wasn’t to bring Qaddafi to justice but to protect civilians.
Where does Obama’s new foreign policy initiative of protecting civilians by Islamic Terrorist Thugs take the United States Military to next? Why hasn’t Barack Obama protected innocent Christians from being slaughtered in Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Somalia and Nigeria?
Related: 2010 Annual Summary Data & Trends in Terrorism –Israel Security Agency
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