A lot of conflicting information is floating around about this topic--whether President Obama (whose administration is disinclined to say "war", evoking comedy even from Jon Stewart) was required by Constitution and statute to obtain authorization from Congress before attacking Libya. Here is the relevant code (Title 50 Chapter 33 § 1541)(a) ( Read more... )

There's been some confusion around the recent employment of military jargon to describe the current combat operations in Libya. This blogger has a humorous take on this and past "dumbass names" -- and one link to the blog notes "I Was Anti-War in Libya Until I Realized it was a Kinetic Military Action:" I malreported doubleplus ungood bellyfeel ( Read more... )

If you are following the news about Libya, you will have encountered one name featured as the "rebel spokesman":"Libya will not turn into Somalia or Iraq. It will not be divided. We are battling - the Libyan people - are battling a gang of mercenaries," Mohammed al-Misrati, a rebel spokesman in the stronghold of Misrata, told Al-Jazeera on Monday.
I ( Read more... )

In a sense, President Obama is attacking one of his most powerful supporters. It was not even two years ago that Muammar Qaddafi proudly asserted that Barack Hussein Obama should be installed as "President-for-Life of the United States."The Arab League was surprised, they said, that the enforcement of a "no-fly zone" turned into a missile attack  ( Read more... )

That's Resolution 1973, which is current as of today. And by "sentenced," I mean that the UN has followed its standard procedure of writing its resolutions as gigantic sentences ( Read more... )