HOLLYWOOD
06-21-2011, 06:09 PM
Man it never ends with these warhawks... it appears, as usual, going through a secondary to launder the dirty work, most likely, hired mercenaries to assassinate the Qaddafi, his cabinet, and forces.
Posted at 03:20 PM ET, 06/21/2011 Kerry, McCain to introduce bipartisan resolution on Libya
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/kerry-mccain-to-introduce-bipartisan-libya-resolution/2011/06/21/AGlabReH_blog.html
By Felicia Sonmez (http://www.washingtonpost.com/felicia-sonmez/2011/03/03/ABfoBaN_page.html)
Two of the Senate’s leading voices on foreign policy said Tuesday morning that they plan to introduce a resolution authorizing the limited use of military force in Libya.
The resolution “would authorize the president to employ the U.S. Armed Forces to advance U.S. national security interests in Libya, as part of the international coalition that is enforcing U.N. Security Council Resolutions in Libya,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced on the Senate floor. He is joined in the effort by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he has had conversations with McCain and Kerry but that it wasn’t clear yet whether they would try to pass the resolution out of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee or whether Reid himself would try to move the measure to the Senate floor.
“I support what they’ve done,” Reid said of the McCain-Kerry resolution. “It’s bipartisan. I think it’s really well done and well thought-out.”
Among the co-sponsors of the resolution are Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.).
“It would limit this authority to one year, which is more than enough time to finish the job,” McCain said. “And it makes clear that the Senate agrees with the president that there is no need, and no desire, to commit U.S. conventional ground forces in Libya.”
The proposal comes as House leaders have suggested that the House may consider a resolution this week defunding the U.S. involvement in Libya, which is in its 94th day. The Libyan conflict has brought divisions among both parties. Some unconditionally back President Obama’s decision to commit U.S. forces to the conflict without first seeking authorization from Congress. Others support the goals of the mission but feel that Obama acted without properly consulting with the legislative branch. And others want the administration to better explain the goals of the intervention and argue that U.S. forces should not be committed to yet another conflict when they are being stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday, McCain and Kerry spoke out forcefully on their resolution. Kerry criticized the resolution to defund the mission, saying that such a vote would represent a “moment of infamy” for the lower chamber.
“It would reinforce the all-too-common perception on the Arab street that America says one thing and does another,” Kerry said.
McCain acknowledged lawmakers’ concerns over the Obama administration’s handling of the Libyan mission and agreed that the White House had made missteps. Yet he argued that “the president did the right thing by intervening to stop a looming humanitarian disaster in Libya.”
The two senators also said that the question of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s fall is a matter of when, not if.
“We are all entitled to our opinions about Libya policy, but here are the facts,” McCain said. “Gaddafi is going to fall. It’s just a matter of time. So, I would ask my colleagues, is this the time for Congress to turn from this policy? Is this the time to ride to the rescue of a failing tyrant when the writing is on the wall that he will collapse? Is this time for Congress to declare to the rest of the world ... that our heart is not in this, that we have neither the will nor the capability to see this mission through, that we will abandon our closest friends and allies on a whim?”
On one of the biggest questions looming over the Libya debate – whether the United States is involved in “hostilities” in the region – Kerry said that the current American involvement does not amount to hostilities.
“No American is being shot at,” Kerry said. “No American troop is on the ground or contemplated being put on the ground. So the mere fact that others are engaged in hostilities and we are supporting them, I don’t believe” amounts to hostilities.
The senators also said that their resolution is not a “blank check” for the president in Libya.
“It says specifically that the Senate does not support the use of ground troops in Libya,” Kerry said, “and the president has stated that that is his policy, but we adopt that policy in this resolution.”
McCain said that a date had not been set for a floor vote on the resolution.
Several senators, including Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), had been planning (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/with-senate-talks-in-flux-webb-crafts-alternate-libya-resolution/2011/06/07/AGnABNLH_blog.html) to introduce a resolution rebuking the administration for failing to seek authorization from Congress for the mission. It’s unclear whether that resolution may be taken up by the full Senate.
Asked at his weekly roundtable Tuesday whether he agreed with Kerry’s statement that a House resolution defunding the Libyan mission would be “a moment of infamy,” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) responded, “I would share that view.”
“It certainly would undermine the confidence of NATO in the ability of the president of the United States to participate in the support of an effort that NATO had agreed to, the United Nations had agreed to and the Arab League had agreed to,” Hoyer said of a potential resolution to defund the Libyan mission. “And it is inconceivable to me that we would at this point in time defund that effort.”
He added that he welcomed the Kerry-McCain resolution authorizing the U.S. mission.
“Whether you agree or disagree with the War Powers Act, the fact is that in Iraq I and Iraq II, both President Bushes did seek and receive authorization for their actions,” Hoyer said.
Following is the full text of the resolution.
Joint Resolution Authorizing the Limited Use of the United States Armed Forces in Support of the NATO Mission in Libya
use link for details on the resolution by Kerry-McCain...
Posted at 03:20 PM ET, 06/21/2011 Kerry, McCain to introduce bipartisan resolution on Libya
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/kerry-mccain-to-introduce-bipartisan-libya-resolution/2011/06/21/AGlabReH_blog.html
By Felicia Sonmez (http://www.washingtonpost.com/felicia-sonmez/2011/03/03/ABfoBaN_page.html)
Two of the Senate’s leading voices on foreign policy said Tuesday morning that they plan to introduce a resolution authorizing the limited use of military force in Libya.
The resolution “would authorize the president to employ the U.S. Armed Forces to advance U.S. national security interests in Libya, as part of the international coalition that is enforcing U.N. Security Council Resolutions in Libya,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced on the Senate floor. He is joined in the effort by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he has had conversations with McCain and Kerry but that it wasn’t clear yet whether they would try to pass the resolution out of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee or whether Reid himself would try to move the measure to the Senate floor.
“I support what they’ve done,” Reid said of the McCain-Kerry resolution. “It’s bipartisan. I think it’s really well done and well thought-out.”
Among the co-sponsors of the resolution are Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.).
“It would limit this authority to one year, which is more than enough time to finish the job,” McCain said. “And it makes clear that the Senate agrees with the president that there is no need, and no desire, to commit U.S. conventional ground forces in Libya.”
The proposal comes as House leaders have suggested that the House may consider a resolution this week defunding the U.S. involvement in Libya, which is in its 94th day. The Libyan conflict has brought divisions among both parties. Some unconditionally back President Obama’s decision to commit U.S. forces to the conflict without first seeking authorization from Congress. Others support the goals of the mission but feel that Obama acted without properly consulting with the legislative branch. And others want the administration to better explain the goals of the intervention and argue that U.S. forces should not be committed to yet another conflict when they are being stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday, McCain and Kerry spoke out forcefully on their resolution. Kerry criticized the resolution to defund the mission, saying that such a vote would represent a “moment of infamy” for the lower chamber.
“It would reinforce the all-too-common perception on the Arab street that America says one thing and does another,” Kerry said.
McCain acknowledged lawmakers’ concerns over the Obama administration’s handling of the Libyan mission and agreed that the White House had made missteps. Yet he argued that “the president did the right thing by intervening to stop a looming humanitarian disaster in Libya.”
The two senators also said that the question of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s fall is a matter of when, not if.
“We are all entitled to our opinions about Libya policy, but here are the facts,” McCain said. “Gaddafi is going to fall. It’s just a matter of time. So, I would ask my colleagues, is this the time for Congress to turn from this policy? Is this the time to ride to the rescue of a failing tyrant when the writing is on the wall that he will collapse? Is this time for Congress to declare to the rest of the world ... that our heart is not in this, that we have neither the will nor the capability to see this mission through, that we will abandon our closest friends and allies on a whim?”
On one of the biggest questions looming over the Libya debate – whether the United States is involved in “hostilities” in the region – Kerry said that the current American involvement does not amount to hostilities.
“No American is being shot at,” Kerry said. “No American troop is on the ground or contemplated being put on the ground. So the mere fact that others are engaged in hostilities and we are supporting them, I don’t believe” amounts to hostilities.
The senators also said that their resolution is not a “blank check” for the president in Libya.
“It says specifically that the Senate does not support the use of ground troops in Libya,” Kerry said, “and the president has stated that that is his policy, but we adopt that policy in this resolution.”
McCain said that a date had not been set for a floor vote on the resolution.
Several senators, including Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), had been planning (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/with-senate-talks-in-flux-webb-crafts-alternate-libya-resolution/2011/06/07/AGnABNLH_blog.html) to introduce a resolution rebuking the administration for failing to seek authorization from Congress for the mission. It’s unclear whether that resolution may be taken up by the full Senate.
Asked at his weekly roundtable Tuesday whether he agreed with Kerry’s statement that a House resolution defunding the Libyan mission would be “a moment of infamy,” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) responded, “I would share that view.”
“It certainly would undermine the confidence of NATO in the ability of the president of the United States to participate in the support of an effort that NATO had agreed to, the United Nations had agreed to and the Arab League had agreed to,” Hoyer said of a potential resolution to defund the Libyan mission. “And it is inconceivable to me that we would at this point in time defund that effort.”
He added that he welcomed the Kerry-McCain resolution authorizing the U.S. mission.
“Whether you agree or disagree with the War Powers Act, the fact is that in Iraq I and Iraq II, both President Bushes did seek and receive authorization for their actions,” Hoyer said.
Following is the full text of the resolution.
Joint Resolution Authorizing the Limited Use of the United States Armed Forces in Support of the NATO Mission in Libya
use link for details on the resolution by Kerry-McCain...