Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Senate
It is no secret that politicians have been criticizing President Barack Obama for taking a course of action in Libya—in particular, a no-fly zone—that many of them had been criticizing him for not taking just a few weeks earlier.
But there are always questions of accuracy in matters like this. Was the person criticizing President Obama misquoted or taken out of context? Was it simply an injudicious statement made off-the-cuff to a reporter? Were the words spoken in the heat of a political rally?
Look no further than Missouri’s own Sen. Roy Blunt for clarity. After Obama’s speech on Libya in late March, Blunt issued the following statement:
“Whenever the President of the United States authorizes a military intervention, he must clearly define the goal and mission of our involvement to Congress, our men and women in uniform, and the American people. Unfortunately, President Obama has failed to meet this criteria, and the cost of our involvement in Libya remains unclear.
“Huge changes are occurring all over the Middle East, and while we are grateful for our allies in Europe and the Arab community, clear and focused American leadership is as important today as it ever has been. The President’s response to these upheavals has often been unsteady and uncertain. If the United States was going to act in Libya, the President should have acted weeks before he did, and done so using much clearer guiding principles and with a more clearly-defined strategy.”
There’s no issue of context or accuracy here. This was Blunt’s own press release.
The U.S. dropped its first bombs on Libya on Saturday, March 19. And what was happening “weeks before” the bombing?
One thing was that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared March 2 before the Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
One of its members in attendance—just 17 days before the bombing—was Sen. Roy Blunt. And late in the hearing, Blunt had an opportunity to address Clinton:
“Well, Secretary, it’s been an impressive hour and a half. Thank you for your service, thank you for your hard work all over the world for our country. And I thought—my view is that the State Department has been generally leading by some days, at least by some hours and occasionally some days, statements that need to be made about Egypt and Libya and other places, and I appreciate that.
“I really—this is probably not the right committee for this and you’re—this is probably not the right question for you, so it’s not a question as much as just [to] go on the record. I really don’t agree that the no-fly effort in Libya should be that difficult. I know what the military’s saying at this point, but I do remember after the first Desert Storm what happened in Iraq when we let Saddam get his helicopters in the air and get his airplanes in the air, and it was a tragedy and a travesty then.
“And whatever we could do out of the, you know, the near bases in the Mediterranean or other places, I frankly think the threat of a no-fly zone, if we could put any group together so it wouldn’t be solely an American effort, a United States effort, is worth vigorously pursuing. A tragedy is happening there now and you’re speaking up on it and I appreciate that, but I would think we could do more.
The other thing I want to say, I thought the veto in the U.N. last week was a good thing to do and I’m glad to see that we’re doing that.”
Let’s recap.
On March 2, speaking freely in a public-hearing room—with no issues of context or interpretation to cloud his comments—Blunt heaped praise on the Obama administration for “leading by some days” with its statements on Libya.
His only criticism of the administration was that he thought establishing a no-fly zone should not be “that difficult”—presumably based upon his experience as an imaginary five-star general—adding “I would think we could do more.”
He then went on to say the U.S. should be “vigorously pursuing” a no-fly zone if “we could put any group together so it wouldn’t be solely an American effort, a United States effort.”
This, of course, is precisely what Obama did, and the reason it hadn’t happened by March 2 was that it took a couple of minutes to assemble a coalition to ensure this wouldn’t be “solely an American effort.” But the president ultimately did precisely what Blunt suggested he do.
Like most Missouri politicians, Blunt likes to talk about being from the “Show-Me State.”
Maybe that should be rephrased to the “Show-Me a Transcript of My Senate Record From 17 Days Ago Before We Issue a Press Release” State.
SLM co-owner Ray Hartmann is a panelist on KETC Channel 9’s Donnybrook, which airs Thursdays at 7 p.m.
