Libya and Moral Questions of War

I haven't known quite what to make of the political situation here in the US regarding the NATO intervention in the Libyan civil war.   I think there is a clear moral need to intercede when a tyrant starts killing his own citizens and with airpower and threatening to annihilate those who have risen up against him. I'm not entirely sure why so many on the left of the political spectrum are so upset by this intervention. Especially those who are critical of the Obama administration for not putting enough international pressure on Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen to halt the attacks on their citizens who are calling for democracy and reform.

I do think that President Obama was legally obligated to seek authorization from Congress to continue the mission (a political burden the other NATO members are insulated from), but after the failure by a wide margin in the House of Representatives to pass such a bill without his request, I can understand why he chose not to seek it. While it is possible that if he had come to congress and explicitly asked for authorization for US participation in the NATO Libya operation that both houses would have passed a bill giving the go ahead, it is also possible, in light of events, that they would have either failed to pass such a bill, or would have attached such strings to it as to make it politically impossible to for President Obama to continue the mission with any hopes of success. Or they might have added amendments for domestic issues that would force him to veto the very bill he asked for.

A failed authorization bill that he requested would be a larger political failure than any heat he will take from the Left or the Right by claiming that the Libyan conflict does not rise to the level of hostilities which would require him to follow the War Powers Act. I think it does rise to that level, but I can see why he says it does not. Without troops on the ground and with limited military engagement by the US at this time, he can make that claim and still pursue the goal of ousting Gadhafi.

Although I'm not especially happy about it, I find I do support the decision. Do you follow the law and hope that your political enemies hand you the tools to accomplish the mission, or do you step around them and do what you think is morally right?

Glad I don't have to make those decisions.