Libya War: Reuters said US to provide aid to rebels, aka, escalation

Reuters is reporting on a new (?) escalation of the Libya War: Mark Hosenball, Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret help for Libya rebels 03/30/2011.

As Stephen Walt said in his reaction to Obama's war address (Why Obama's Libya speech didn't matter Foreign Policy 03/29/2011):

My main objection to the speech was that Obama lied when he said the United States would only pursue regime change through "non-military means," and when he said that "broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake."

... no matter what Obama said last night, the United States is in fact using its military forces to produce regime change in Libya. And notice also that Obama's carefully parsed wording -- his willingness to use "non-military means" leaves open the possibility of covert action by the CIA, or even CIA-operated drone strikes. I'm not shocked by the president's "misspeaking" in this fashion, because leaders lie all the time and he's got to pretend to be conforming to the U.N. Security Council Resolution. But we shouldn't be taken in by this particular deception.

See also Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post 03/28/2011; Eric Schmitt, U.S. Gives Its Air Power Expansive Role in Libya New York Times 03/28/2011; Karen DeYoung et al, CIA operatives in Libya to gather intelligence on rebel fighters Washington Post 03/30/2011.

Tags: libya war

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