Finally Obama went on t.v. to present his case of attacking Libya. It would seem to me that he should have done this before the first bombs were dropped. As I said before, when he said that "Kadafi must go". he did not leave himself much wiggle room. I had mixed feeling about getting into another war but I think once we are in we've got to make sure that Kadafi is going out. Obama is afraid to state the goal because Kadafi can always play rope-a-dope and try to outlast NATO. But regardless what Obama does, he is going to be criticized anyway from right and left. Witness Newt Gingrich who complained for couple of weeks that Obama did not attack Libya. Now that the operation has started, Gingrich said that he should not have done so. Given that Obama has already committed, he has to act stronger and announced that IF the Arab league believes that Kadafi should go, then the U.S. will sure to HELP accomplish that. But of course in the backroom, he should make sure that Qatar, UAE, and others are on board, even if we need to twist some arms.
Actually it may not be too bleak of a situation. Now that NATO has controlled the sky, the rebels are pushing Kadafi's army back already. So this means that a rag-tag civilian force can win in combat without much arms, can you imagine what they can do with real fire power provided by the Europeans and the Arab League? It is a matter getting these countries to supply the rebels. I think once it is clear that the rebels are well-armed, the Kadafi army will give up without NATO or American forces on the ground.
Monday, March 28, 2011
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I've been waiting for your next blog in order to respond since I was a little late in reading your last two blogs.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how the news really dictates where our thoughts go to these days. A few weeks ago, it was the uprising in Egypt. Now, it's Libya and Japan.
Haven't heard much about Egypt recently, have you? My thoughts drift to that country every now and then, since I'm sure there's still unrest but we don't get to hear much since the news is concentrating so much on Egypt and Japan right now (and Charlie Sheen).
You were right that the news in Japan helped Kadafi but he didn't take too much advantage of it, since he was actually out there for the world to see, pushing his agenda. Based on that I don't know if he'll go away easily. Plus, he has his sons to carry on and do the PR work that seems to be fooling no one.
Do you think they believe everything they're saying? Is there any possible way that what Kadafi is saying the truth?
I'm a bit apprehensive about going to war with another country and I think it would have been better if we had not sent those Tomahawk missiles into Libya alone. It makes it look like an American attack despite other countries involved.
But now that we've dipped our toes in, I guess that means we should take the plunge and hope it's a quick mission. Obama is in a no-win situation and it's too bad that both sides can't support its Commander In-Chief in times like these, but then again, it's the sign of the times.
-LBOAYM
No, i have not heard much from Egypt except that they had an election to change the constitution. I am not sure how that turned out. When all the protests started, things looked promising for some significant democratic changes in the region. Now that Libya is going back and forth between Kadafi's troops and the rebels, this looks to drag on much longer. Also with protests in Bahrain, Yemen and Jordan, who are all pro-western for the most part, this can get tougher for Obama to decide what to do. Now that we are attacking Kadafi, what are we going to do if the situation escalates in Syria? I have no good answer.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, Obama has better ideas than me. I criticized Obama for delaying his presentation of the case for war. But I read today that it was a calculated move on his part to first start the attack and then let NATO take over so that he can say it is going exactly as he had planned. This won't get the critics on both sides of the aisle off his back but I think it played reasonably well to the average American. Hope he can make the good decisions going forward because I don't think things will calm down soon.
I think the only thing to say about this Libya situation is that only time will tell.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Obama decided to announce re-election plans on the heels of the impending action in Libya. I don't know what the strategy of doing this now was.
Onto more serious subjects. What are your picks for Dancing with the Stars?
Not that I follow it or anything, but I am hoping that Hines Ward will prove once and for all that Asian people can dance. Of course the rumor that Asian people can't dance only comes from you having "Asian Feet" and being tone deaf.
I think Ward will win the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy, because he has the work ethic and athleticism.
My darkhorse will be Chris Jericho who is a fine athlete as well and he is working with Cheryl Burke, who is a two time champion.
I like Ralph Macchio but don't know if his body will hold up. He's been quite impressive. Donny Osmond had a hard time with the training and he was in very good shape from doing his shows in Vegas. I don't know if Ralph will have the stamina to keep up.
The only woman I see advancing far is that Chelsea Kane who is teamed up with Mark Ballas. Ballas is a great choreographer and she has a lot of natural ability and youth on her side.
Of course I am only a casual follower and could be wrong with all my picks!
-LBOAYM
Only a casual follower? You seem to know more about the show than me! There is no need for Hines Ward to win to prove that some Asians can dance. That was already proven by Apollo Anton Ono and Kristy Yamaguchi who had previously won the contest. But of course these are world class athletes and the exceptions! As I mentioned before my excuse is not "Asian feet" but Hong Kong feet which prevents one from being a world class athlete. (Note that there is no world class athlete from Hong Kong). I know my excuses are getting weaker and I will be in more trouble if Jackie Chan ever shows up on DWTS.
ReplyDeleteThis season is difficult to predict without any clear favorite so far. But I think Kirstie Alley will be in the final three because she is famous from Cheers and she dances fairly well. She will also get votes from people who are over weight who see her a role model who can overcome the weigh problem.
What do you think of the NCAA tournament? I was hoping Butler would win just so that I can write: "The Butler did it!" Even thought U Conn won, I still think that the Big East is overrated. In fact I think most big conferences are overrated comparing to the mid majors. Do you think we should just let everybody in? Just two more rounds and one more week will do it!
It will be interesting to see if Kirstie Alley will make it that far. You are right about the voting, but if she doesn't dance well, the judges will do what they can to give her low scores. She seems to be a pretty good dancer, but she has to do the faster dances still and I think that will be her downfall. Maybe she'll prove me wrong.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of negative press about the championship game and tournament on the whole. I personally liked it. You can argue that the best team did not win it but to me, that's the beauty of the tournament.
Interesting proposal about having the rest of the field in there. I don't necessarily care for that. I wouldn't mind having a pre-tournament (use the NIT) for the teams that were not selected and having the champion get into the tournament that way. It might be unfair to the team that wins it since they have to play many more games, but you can argue that at least they got a chance whereas they might be sitting at home.
Also, you are right about the Big East (or Big Least). I am so sick of the east coast biased year in year out. I am also glad that UConn did not win in the womens tournament. I am pretty sick of their coach!
-LBOAYM