Everybody in DC was on Vacation when Obama Went to War with Libya

Our government is an embarrassment. On the surface, it was a coincidence that the war in Libya started days after Congress decided to go on a 10-day vacation. From quoting Democrat Congress Dennis J. Kucinich, “Who’s minding the store while we’re at war?”, our government was asleep at the helm. Obama finally give an official announcement to our Congress several days after taking upon himself to go to war with Libya. Americans should be vastly concerned that we have an incompetent government. We have not ridden the cancer that is spreading throughout this country. We need more Republicans and all the Democrats voted out in the next elections. Because our economy sucks and the world around us is unraveling, we need a new set of leaders in Washington to fix the mess we are in.

(Washington Times) The world is at war, but Washington is eerily empty, devoid of all the power players who normally foster a soul-searching debate when the country goes on the attack.

President Obama made the decision to bomb Libya from Brazil, the top congressional leadership is all out of town as Congress takes a 10-day vacation, and Vice President Joseph R. Biden spent the weekend in Wilmington, Del. Even Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was traveling in Russia on Monday.

Now, all four top leaders are gone: House Speaker John A. Boehner was in Ohio for his daughter’s wedding this weekend, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was traveling in Rome on official business after a weekend stop in Afghanistan, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was in Nevada, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is traveling and doing some fundraising this week.

The lack of organized debate in the U.S. contrasts starkly with Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron faced his colleagues in Parliament directly Monday, and answered their questions.

“Who’s minding the store while we’re at war?” said Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat who tried to spark a debate on military action last week before Congress went on vacation, and who has since called for Congress to reconvene.

“Think about this for a moment. In the last week they had time to garner 10 votes at the U.N., they had time to talk to the Arab League [and consult with] NATO, France and Britain. It seems the administration talked to everyone but the United States Congress, which has the constitutional authority to commit this country to war,” Mr. Kucinich said.

We are Losing the War in Libya, Coalition Forces Confused

This is the most convoluted war ever designed. Obama tells Congress we went to war against Libya 2 days ago. The Arab League broke away from the coalition. Russia and China are against the war. Fractions in the coalition is becoming evident. The mission of the war is unclear. The rebels that the coalition is supporting are al-Qaeda affiliates. There is no game plan except to bomb the crap of the country. Also, no one is willing to lead this fight.

(Mail Online) Deep divisions between allied forces currently bombing Libya worsened today as the German military announced it was pulling forces out of NATO over continued disagreement on who will lead the campaign.

A German military spokesman said it was recalling two frigates and AWACS surveillance plane crews from the Mediterranean, after fears they would be drawn into the conflict if NATO takes over control from the U.S.

The infighting comes as a heated meeting of NATO ambassadors yesterday failed to resolve whether the 28-nation alliance should run the operation to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, diplomats said.

Yesterday a war of words erupted between the U.S. and Britain after the U.K. government claimed Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate target for assassination.
U.K. government officials said killing the Libyan leader would be legal if it prevented civilian deaths as laid out in a U.N. resolution.

But U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates hit back at the suggestion, saying it would be 'unwise' to target the Libyan leader adding cryptically that the bombing campaign should stick to the 'U.N. mandate'.

President Barack Obama, seeking to avoid getting bogged down in a war in another Muslim country, said on Monday Washington would cede control of operations against Muammar Gaddafi's forces within days, handing the reins over to NATO.

But Germany and European allies remain unwilling to have NATO take on a military operation that theoretically has nothing to do with the defence of Europe.
Today the German defence ministry announced Berlin had pulled out of any military operations in the Mediterranean.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested that air strikes launched after a meeting in Paris hosted by France on Saturday had gone beyond what had been sanctioned by a U.N. Security Council resolution.

With Turkey digging its heels in and the Arab League suspicious, it has been pointed out that Mr Obama has fewer coalition partners in Libya than George Bush did at the start of the Iraq war.

Chaos Around the World and Obama Still Has Time to Vacation

I was wondering where Obama has been hiding. I haven't heard a word from him talk regarding to the Japanese crisis, Libya massacre, Haiti reconstruction, high unemployment, Wisconsin protest, low approval rating, massive deficits, unpayable national debt, ceiling debt, inflation, and high oil prices. Instead, Obama finds time to run away to Rio for a well-deserved vacation. Isn't that nice?

(Forbes) President Barack Obama will take his first official trip to Brazil this weekend where he will speak in the popular Cinelandia Square in downtown Rio de Janeiro.

Obama’s speech will be free and open to the public and take place around 15:00 local time (14:00 EST). Access to the square will begin at 11:30, and is sure to draw a crowd.

The Obama family will also take in the sights in Rio. A trip to Corcovado mountain, where the Christ the Redeemer statue stands (France gave us Lady Liberty, gave Brazil Jesus) is supposedly on the itinerary. What trip to Rio would be complete without it?

A Dictatorship State is Better than a Radical Islamist State

Obama has been supportive with the revolutions and ousting of dictators from Northern Africa. The consequence that will occur next will be a new form of government. It finally became a concern to the Obama Administration that a Islamic state my surface as a form of government with a radical Islamic element. As Obama is downplaying a Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda, or Taliban form of government, the president is using Turkey, Lebanon, and Palestine as example that stable government that might work in torn countries like Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. Realistically speaking, Obama has created an atmosphere of instability in the Middle East. By spreading any form of radical Islam in these regions will grow terrorism and hatred to non-Muslim religions. Let's not be blind to the fact that the recent bombing of churches and beheading of Christians are not coincidences. I have said it many times we are in a Holy War. The battle for land, oil, and freedom are secondary to their prime goal;to spread Islam throughout the world. America had successes in dealing and controlling with dictators (Mubarak, Gaddafi, Marcos, Chavez), but it is impossible to reason and work with radical Islamic ideologues that has a set agenda (Ayatollah Khomeini, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). Obama owns what occurs in the Middle East. With the sky-rocket oil and gas prices, massive genocides, and many displayed hungry people, it will take the next president to clean up the mess that Obama created.

(Washington Post) The Obama administration is preparing for the prospect that Islamist governments will take hold in North Africa and the Middle East, acknowledging that the popular revolutions there will bring a more religious cast to the region's politics.

The administration is already taking steps to distinguish between various movements in the region that promote Islamic law in government. An internal assessment, ordered by the White House last month, identified large ideological differences between such movements as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and al-Qaeda that will guide the U.S. approach to the region.

None of the revolutions over the past several weeks has been overtly Islamist, but there are signs that the uprisings could give way to more religious forces. An influential Yemeni cleric called this week for the U.S.-backed administration of President Ali Abdullah Saleh to be replaced with Islamist rule, and in Egypt, an Islamist theoretician has a leading role in drafting constitutional changes after President Hosni Mubarak's fall from power last month.

A number of other Islamist parties are deciding now how big a role to play in protests or post-revolution reforms.

Middle East Protest Reaches China

History has shown that the Chinese people yearn for a democracy. Under communist rule, the Chinese people are hungry, unemployed, suppressed, and practically living on the streets. The paranoia of the Chinese government is at its tipping point. Anything related toward a hint of a protest, the Chinese government will take no chances and quell the situation. Also, it is convenient for the Chinese government have full control of the Internet and monitor what information can be access by the Chinese people. It is really ironic how China is the second greatest world economy, but the people who reside there are dirt poor. Sooner or later a revolution will break loose in China. It is a matter of time.

(The Blaze) BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities cracked down on activists as a call circulated for people to gather in more than a dozen cities Sunday for a “Jasmine Revolution.”

The source of the call was not known, but authorities moved to halt its spread online. Searches for the word “jasmine” were blocked Saturday on China’s largest Twitter-like microblog, and the website where the request first appeared said it was hit by an attack.

Activists seemed not to know what to make of the call to protest, even as they passed it on. They said they were unaware of any known group being involved in the request for citizens to gather in 13 cities and shout “We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness.”

China has limited reporting on the protests in the Middle East and quickly shuts down most protests at home.

Authorities appeared to be treating the protest call seriously. Families and friends reported the detention or harassment of several activists, and some said they had been warned not to participate Sunday.

Tensions were already high in recent days after a video secretly made under house arrest by one of China’s most well-known activist lawyers, Chen Guangcheng, was made public. Chen and his wife reportedly were beaten in response, and some of Chen’s supporters reported being detained or beaten by authorities after meeting to discuss his case.

The call for a “Jasmine Revolution” came as President Hu Jintao gave a speech to top leaders Saturday, asking them to “solve prominent problems which might harm the harmony and stability of the society.”

The ruling Communist Party is dogged by the threat of social unrest over rising food and housing prices and other issues.

In the latest price increase, the National Development and Reform Commission announced Saturday that gasoline and diesel prices would be raised by 350 yuan ($53) per ton.