Friday, February 25, 2011

While Qaddafi Massacres, Obama Does Motown

When campaigning for the presidency, Barack Obama often appealed to "what Dr. King called 'the fierce urgency of now.'" And, he would continue, "I believe that there’s such a thing as being too late, and that hour is almost upon us."

According to today's Washington Post, "The Khamis Brigade, named after Gaddafi's youngest son, was reported to be flying in additional mercenaries from African countries as recently as Wednesday, according to Omar Khattaly, a co-founder of the Libyan Working Group, an exiled human rights group with offices in Atlanta and Europe. Some of the mercenaries were landing at what used to be the U.S. Wheelus Air Base, near Tripoli."

Meanwhile, President Obama has ordered an U.S. undersecretary of State to fly around Europe and the Middle East for consultations.

So Qaddafi flies in mercenaries to kill people. And Obama flies diplomats around to consult with other diplomats about whether at some point we might possibly stop Qaddafi from flying in mercenaries to kill people.

There is "such a thing as being too late, and that hour is almost upon us." Is it too much to hope that President Obama might embody a little of that "fierce urgency of now" not on behalf of his own campaign for political office but on behalf of the people of Libya?


(Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard)