Obama's Libyan Operation Showcases His Incompetence In Leadership

It would take me 20 some pages to go through President Obama's lame excuses for sending U.S. military forces into the Libyan conflict but the fact of the matter is this at the moment - Barack Hussein Obama approved military action in Libya, then he got up in front of the American people and made his case for that decision...depicting a hopeless scenario for the Libyan people against Moammar Ghadaffi and then....well, as Obama does on every other issue in his Presidency, he walked away. And today, the fighting in Libya continues to go the way of Ghadaffi....and the President of the United States apparently didn't mean a word of trying to protect the Libyan people.

Look at this from the latest report from Libya at DAWN:

Regime forces bombarded rebels west of Ajdabiya, forcing hundreds of residents and some fighters to flee the key crossroads town, as a refugee rescue operation in the besieged city of Misrata loomed.

The intense pounding of Ajdabiya Sunday came a day after at least eight people were killed and 27 wounded as the forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi fired rockets at rebel positions there, hospital officials said.

“Qadhafi’s forces approached the city, they bombed the western gate. The sound of the guns are coming closer, that’s why many are leaving,” said Omar Salim Mufta, a 27-year-old resident rebel supporter who has not taken up arms.

Another civilian, 48-year-old Milud Ghait, appealed for Nato to launch air strikes on the area as about a dozen pickup trucks carrying rebel fighters left the eastern town.

“Qadhafi’s forces are on the western outskirts of Ajdabiya, but Nato is doing nothing. Where is Nato? What are the French, British and Americans doing?” he asked.

Now, in case you have forgotten about how heartfelt Obama was about saving the Libyan people...I'll remind you what he said about the plight of those people. From Obama's speech:

In the face of the world’s condemnation, Qaddafi chose to escalate his attacks, launching a military campaign against the Libyan people. Innocent people were targeted for killing. Hospitals and ambulances were attacked. Journalists were arrested, sexually assaulted, and killed. Supplies of food and fuel were choked off. Water for hundreds of thousands of people in Misurata was shut off. Cities and towns were shelled, mosques were destroyed, and apartment buildings reduced to rubble. Military jets and helicopter gunships were unleashed upon people who had no means to defend themselves against assaults from the air.

So, have you heard the President utter a peep about Libya since that speech on March 28th other than NATO was taking the lead? Have you heard the Commander-in-chief utter any concern about how the operation is going? Did he even MAKE the speech?

Let's face it - Barack Hussein Obama has never followed through on anything in his life. To put it bluntly, Barack Hussein Obama is a quitter. And as the saying goes, "Winners never quit and quitters never win." Barack Hussein Obama quit his career as an attorney, he quit his career as an educator, he quit his state senate career after becoming bored and after only a few years in the U.S. Senate where he showed up late for most of his meetings and voted "Present" he decided to quit that gig and move on. As President, this man quit on his healthcare initiative and let Nancy Pelosi do the heavy lifting...he quit on his goals of closing Gitmo and his claims to withdraw all troops from Iraq. He has quit on just about every one of his initiatives other than to lower his golf handicap by the time he leaves office.

Qadhafi forces pound Ajdabiya and Misrata


AJDABIYA: Regime forces bombarded rebels west of Ajdabiya, forcing hundreds of residents and some fighters to flee the key crossroads town, as a refugee rescue operation in the besieged city of Misrata loomed.

The intense pounding of Ajdabiya Sunday came a day after at least eight people were killed and 27 wounded as the forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi fired rockets at rebel positions there, hospital officials said.

“Qadhafi’s forces approached the city, they bombed the western gate. The sound of the guns are coming closer, that’s why many are leaving,” said Omar Salim Mufta, a 27-year-old resident rebel supporter who has not taken up arms.

Another civilian, 48-year-old Milud Ghait, appealed for Nato to launch air strikes on the area as about a dozen pickup trucks carrying rebel fighters left the eastern town.

“Qadhafi’s forces are on the western outskirts of Ajdabiya, but Nato is doing nothing. Where is Nato? What are the French, British and Americans doing?” he asked.

Also Sunday, government spokesman Musa Ibrahim claimed al Qaeda is involved in the uprising.

“We believe it’s very dangerous if these people establish themselves in this country, have control of its future, its immense wealth a footstep from Europe,” Ibrahim said.

On the political front, Britain insisted that it would not send ground forces into Libya.

“What we’ve said is there is no question of an invasion or an occupation, this is not about Britain putting boots on the ground, this is not what we are about here,” Prime Minister David Cameron told Sky News.

He stressed international forces would not go beyond the terms set by UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorises all necessary means to protect civilians in Libya but rules out a foreign occupation force.

It was not immediately clear if there were casualties from Sunday’s loyalist bombardment of Ajdabiya.

“They are about 20 kilometres away. They are firing at us with Grad rockets,” said Kemal Abdel Mohammed Abdel, 24, a rebel returning from the front.

The ragtag rebel fighters had previously appeared set to move on Brega, 80 kilometres west of Ajdabiya, with some correspondents reporting they were on the outskirts of the strategic oil town.

In the besieged western bastion of Misrata, a chartered Greek ferry arrived off the port as part of an international refugee rescue operation.

“This ship contains 500 tonnes of humanitarian aid, both medical and food, four ambulances and three doctors who are to replace colleagues,” said Jeremy Haslam, IOM operations leader on board.

The IOM was hoping to take on 1,000-plus refugees packed around the port.

“We hope to target the most vulnerable, West Africans, mostly from Chad and Niger, who are the least looked after by the local population,” Haslam said.

The IOM has identified some 10,000 non-Libyan refugees waiting to leave and who are camping out around Misrata without adequate shelter, clean water or food and no medical care.

That breaks down as 3,000-plus from Egypt, 3,000-plus from Niger, 1,000-plus from Chad, 1,000-plus from Ghana, 800 from Sudan and 75 from Bangladesh.

“This is the humanitarian priority in Libya, the fact that it keeps being shelled is grave,” Haslam said of Misrata.

A source at the city’s Hikma hospital gave the latest toll for that facility alone on Sunday as 16 dead and 71 wounded, with many casualties being brought in late in the day.

Gunfire was reported close to the hospital, and tracer fire was seen in the night sky over the city centre.

Earlier, rebels said they mounted successful raids on Qadhafi’s troops in the city.

Smoke billowed over central Misrata, which a witness said was from a destroyed regime tank, as the rebels claimed to have taken out several pro-Qadhafi snipers along the port’s main avenue, Tripoli Street.

Wailing mourners gathered outside the Hikma hospital as another victim of the fighting was brought in, doctors and mourners carrying the coffin of a man fatally wounded in the fierce fighting that has torn through the town.

As the body was loaded into the back of a pick-up truck and driven away to be buried, gunshots crackled in the air.

The sound of Nato jets could be heard overhead throughout the afternoon as gun battles raged in various districts.

The triage tent outside the hospital had seen a steady stream of victims, including a young boy receiving stitches to his head. Beside him, medics treated a man who had been hit in the head with shrapnel.

In the west, a witness reported that the insurgents hold the road from Zintan to the border with Tunisia, despite efforts by Qadhafi forces to cut the lines of communication of rebel-held towns in the area.

Loyalists were bombarding the area around the town of Nalut, 230 kilometres southwest of Tripoli and a few dozen kilometres from the border, the witness said.

Now What President Obama? Ghaddafi's Kicking Ass In Libya

Libyan rebels sound the retreat

Isn't this typical of the Obama reign of incompetence in America? Just two days after President Barack Hussein Obama speaks to our entire nation about how critical it was in his view to stand up to Moammar Ghaddafi and see that there is a change in power in Libya, the entire situation of military control in that country has now flip flopped back in the favor of Ghaddafi's government-backed military. The "rebels" are quite simply getting their ass kicked.

So now what do you do, Mr. President? You just told us all how critical this mission is but you promised to keep it at a distance - are you willing to let the mission be a failure? Or are you going to invest MORE into the operation?

I know, I know Mr. President...being President is a lot different than being a community organizer.

Here's the latest update on Ghaddafi's surge from Breitbart.

Gadhafi's forces adapt to airstrikes, pound rebels


AJDABIYA, Libya (AP) - Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces recaptured a strategic oil town Wednesday and moved within striking distance of another major eastern city, nearly reversing the gains rebels made since international airstrikes began. Rebels pleaded for more help, while a U.S. official said government forces are making themselves harder to target by using civilian "battle wagons" with makeshift armaments instead of tanks.

Western powers kept up the pressure to force Gadhafi out with new airstrikes in other parts of Libya, hints that they may arm the opposition and intense negotiations behind the scenes to find a country to give haven to Libya's leader of more than 40 years.

Airstrikes have neutralized Gadhafi's air force and pounded his army, but his ground forces remain far better armed, trained and organized than the opposition.

The shift in momentum back to the government's side comes as NATO is in the process of taking over control of the airstrikes, which began as a U.S.-led operation. Diplomats said they have given approval for the commander of the NATO operation, Canadian Gen. Charles Bouchard, to announce a handover on Thursday.

Gadhafi's forces also have adopted a new tactic in light of the pounding airstrikes have given their tanks and armored vehicles, a senior U.S. intelligence official said. They've left those weapons behind in favor of a "gaggle" of "battle wagons": minivans, sedans and SUVs fitted with weapons, said the official, who spoke anonymously in order to discuss sensitive U.S. intelligence on the condition and capabilities of rebel and regime forces.

The change not only makes it harder to distinguish Gadhafi's forces from the rebels, it also requires less logistical support, the official said.

The official said airstrikes have degraded Gadhafi's forces since they were launched March 19, but the regime forces still outmatch those of the opposition "by far," and few members of Gadhafi's military have defected lately.

The disparity was obvious as government forces pushed back rebels about 100 miles (160 kilometers) in just two days. The rebels had been closing in on the strategic city of Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown and a bastion of support for the longtime leader, but under heavy shelling they retreated from Bin Jawwad on Tuesday and from the oil port of Ras Lanouf on Wednesday.

Gadhafi's forces were shelling Brega, another important oil city east of Ras Lanouf. East of the city in Ajdabiya, where many rebels had regrouped, Col. Abdullah Hadi said he expected the loyalists to enter Brega by Wednesday night.

"I ask NATO for just one aircraft to push them back. All we need is air cover and we could do this. They should be helping us," Hadi said.

Gadhafi's forces also have laid land mines in the eastern outskirts of Adjabiya, an area they held from March 17 until Saturday, when airstrikes drove them west, according to Human Rights Watch.

The New York-based group cited the electricity director for eastern Libya, Abdal Minam al-Shanti, who said two anti-personnel mines detonated when a truck ran over them, but no one was hurt. Al-Shanti said a civil defense team found and disarmed more than 50 mines in what Human Rights Watch described as a heavily traveled area.

NATO planes flew over the zone where the heaviest fighting was under way earlier Wednesday and an Associated Press reporter at the scene heard explosions, but it was unclear whether any airstrikes hit the area. U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Clint Gebke, a spokesman for the NATO operation aboard the USS Mount Whitney, said he could not confirm any specific strikes but Western aircraft were engaging pro-Gadhafi forces in areas including Sirte and Misrata, the rebels' last significant holdout in western Libya.

The retreat Wednesday looked like a mad scramble: Pickup trucks, with mattresses and boxes tied on, driving east at 100 mph (160 kilometers per hour).

And as the fighting approached Ajdabiya, residents there made an exodus of their own. The road to Benghazi was packed with vehicles, most of them full of families and their belongings. Streets on the western side of Ajdabiya were deserted and silent.

Rebel military spokesman Col. Ahmed Bani said the rebels had made a "tactical retreat" to Ajdabiya and will set up defensive positions there. "Even with courage and determination, the forces need power to be able to fight back," he said.

Bani said he heard from three sources, including one in Chad, that 3,200 to 3,600 heavily armed members of the Chadian presidential guard were marching from Sirte toward Ajdabiya. The report could not be independently confirmed.

As Gadhafi's forces push rebels toward their de-facto capital Benghazi, some 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Brega, pressure is growing for NATO members and other supporters of the air campaign to do more.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain believes a legal loophole could allow nations to supply weapons to Libya's rebels—but stressed the U.K. has not decided whether it will offer assistance to the rebels.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that Washington also believes it would be legal to give the rebels weapons. Asked whether the U.S. would do so, President Barack Obama told NBC, "I'm not ruling it out, but I'm also not ruling it in."

NATO officials and diplomats said the alliance had not considered arming the rebels. Any alliance involvement would require support from all 28 members, a difficult task, and an alliance official who could not be named under standing regulations said NATO "wouldn't even consider doing anything else" without a new U.N. resolution.

China, Russia and Germany oppose supplying weapons to the rebels, and France, one of the strongest backers of international intervention in Libya, agreed with NATO that a new U.N. resolution would be required.

Under the U.N. resolution authorizing necessary measures to protect civilians, nations supplying weapons would need to be satisfied they would be used only to defend civilians—not to take the offensive to Gadhafi's forces.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said the operation already had gone too far. He called for an immediate cease-fire and admonished French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a diplomatic meeting in Beijing. Hu called for peaceful efforts to restore stability, expressed China's concern that Libya may end up divided and said force would complicate a negotiated settlement.

Diplomats were attempting to persuade Gadhafi to leave without military force.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said negotiations on securing Gadhafi's exit were being conducted with "absolute discretion" and that there were options on the table that hadn't yet been formalized.

"What is indispensable is that there be countries that are willing to welcome Gadhafi and his family, obviously to end this situation which otherwise could go on for some time," he said. But the Italian diplomat insisted immunity for Gadhafi was not an option.

Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa left Tunisia for London after a two-day visit shrouded in secrecy, Tunisia's official news agency said. The report did not say why, and a spokesman for Cameron's Downing Street office said the report was "the first I've heard of it."

Uganda appeared to be the first country to publicly offer Gadhafi refuge. The spokesman for Uganda's president, Tamale Mirundi, told the AP on Wednesday that he would be welcome there.

Gadhafi has shown no public sign he might leave power, vowing to fight until the end. His forces were continuing to besiege Misrata, the rebels' main western holdout.

An activist in Misrata said there have been power outages, and water service was cut off so residents must rely on wells, but the biggest problem was a lack of medical supplies such as anesthesia and sterilizers, along with diapers and baby formula. Four people in the town were killed Tuesday, the activist said.

Libyan officials took journalists to the home of a family who said their 18-month-old son was killed in an airstrike Tuesday morning against an ammunition dump in the mountain village of Ghiryan, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Tripoli. They say their home was hit by a stray missile when the dump was hit.

Their account could not be independently confirmed, but U.S. and European officials have said strikes had been carried out in the area.

British and other diplomats were involved in negotiations with the rebel leadership in Benghazi. Cameron's spokesman Steve Field said it was partly to gauge if the opposition would be trustworthy allies—"learning more about their intentions."

NATO's top commander, U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, has said officials have seen "flickers" of possible al-Qaida and Hezbollah involvement with the rebel forces. Bani, the rebel military spokesman, dismissed accusations that al-Qaida elements are fighting with the rebels.

"If there are elements that were with al-Qaida in the past and they are now in Libya, they are now fighting for Libya, not for al-Qaida," he said, emphasizing the word "if."

C.A.I.R. Denounces Ghaddafi As a Madman...Oh Wait, Did C.A.I.R. Mention They Begged Ghaddafi For Money In 2009??

There truly is no organization more two-faced in America than C.A.I.R. (Council on American-Islamic Relations) as we have seen time and time again this organization's ties to radical islamic terror groups and their general reluctance to denounce any kind of terror upon America...but then they turn around and act like this apple pie organization that is trying to "build bridges." Well, just recently CAIR officials announced that Libya's leader Ghaddafi was a "madman" and voiced their support of the Libyan people. Oh so admirable of CAIR don't you think? But wait just a doggone minute. Let's take a look at something about CAIR's relationship with Moammar Ghaddafi just back in 2009. From the article at Family Security Matters:

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), asked Muammar Gaddafi to underwrite CAIR's efforts in the United States during a September 2009 audience with the Libyan dictator.

According to an account of the meeting in a Libyan news website, Awad was joined by two other leading CAIR officials in praising Gaddafi's leadership and asking him to help underwrite a program to distribute 1 million copies of the Quran to government officials and the general public in America and to help start up a new foundation Awad was trying to launch.

The account was published in Arabic by Libyalive.net, and was translated by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Libyalive.net describes itself as "an independent Libyan electronic newspaper," but the story about Gaddafi's visit is attributed to the Jamahiriya News Agency, Libya's official state news service.

Awad's pleas to Gaddafi's generosity came after the Libyan leader left United Nations observers slack jawed at his rambling, 100-minute speech to the General Assembly.

Now, after Gaddafi started killing his own people as he tries to fend off a popular uprising, Awad and CAIR have denounced him as a madman. They have organized rallies and news conferences demanding that violence against Libyan civilians by Gaddafi's forces stop.

See what I mean about two-faced? These clowns at CAIR are there with their hands out for money one day and the next, when the publicity turns the other direction, they are there pointing a finger. And this is an organization that still has access to our politicians in Washington, D.C.

So, here is my question in all of this. Libya has been on a list of the U.S. government where trade and commerce has been completely banned. U.S. companies and citizens have been banned from doing any business with Libya. At the same time, CAIR enjoys a nonprofit 501(c)(3) status here in America yet they were right there SOLICITING funding from Libya? Hmmm....doesn't that seem a bit like someone caught with their hands in the cookie jar?

CAIR Officials Sought Gaddafi Money


Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), asked Muammar Gaddafi to underwrite CAIR's efforts in the United States during a September 2009 audience with the Libyan dictator.

According to an account of the meeting in a Libyan news website, Awad was joined by two other leading CAIR officials in praising Gaddafi's leadership and asking him to help underwrite a program to distribute 1 million copies of the Quran to government officials and the general public in America and to help start up a new foundation Awad was trying to launch.

The account was published in Arabic by Libyalive.net, and was translated by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Libyalive.net describes itself as "an independent Libyan electronic newspaper," but the story about Gaddafi's visit is attributed to the Jamahiriya News Agency, Libya's official state news service.

Awad's pleas to Gaddafi's generosity came after the Libyan leader left United Nations observers slack jawed at his rambling, 100-minute speech to the General Assembly.

Now, after Gaddafi started killing his own people as he tries to fend off a popular uprising, Awad and CAIR have denounced him as a madman. They have organized rallies and news conferences demanding that violence against Libyan civilians by Gaddafi's forces stop.

"Join us to support the people of Libya against a dictatorship," a February 24 release from CAIR's Chicago chapter said.

Concerns over the Libyan government were overlooked in September 2009, when Gaddafi traveled to New York to speak to the U.N. There, Gaddafi ignored the 15-minute limit on speeches, going on a tirade about everything from the assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy to his belief that the U.N. Security Council was similar to al-Qaida, calling it the "terror council."

At a later reception with Gaddafi, Awad, national spokesman Ibrahim Hooper and Chairman Larry Shaw made a direct appeal to the Libyan leader to donate to CAIR programs.

"Your speech has had an impact in the hearts of many people in the world," Awad said. He hailed Gaddafi as "the world Islamic popular leader," saying "[w]e appreciate your efforts over the years, and wish also to extend your interest will extend to Muslims in America, God willing."

In addition to the Quran program, Awad asked for money to help launch the Muslim Peace Foundation. That group would work to "have an active role in American life so that we can repair the relationship [with the Muslim world] and restore it to what it should be," Awad said.

The foundation was created in May 2008, corporate records filed in Washington, D.C. show. Officers include Shaw and Awad, who is listed as Nehad Hammad. Awad also used the name Nehad Hammad in CAIR's founding articles of incorporation in 1994. During a 2003 deposition in a civil lawsuit, Awad acknowledged his "full and complete name is Nihad Awad Hammad."

A third Muslim Peace Foundation founder is listed as Winslow Seale. That is the name of Dar al-Hijrah mosque outreach director Johari Abdul Malik before his conversion to Islam. Records from the Department of Homeland Security obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that Dar al-Hijrah is considered "associated with Islamic extremists" and "has been linked to numerous individuals linked to terrorism financing."

"We hope for your noble generosity in taking this project under your wing," Awad told Gaddafi, "so you will be in the vanguard, as we have come to expect of you….God willing, you will as you have promised us, be the first to take the lead in this project."

In a radio interview Monday, Awad said the pitch came up empty. Because the request failed, he claimed, CAIR officials did no wrong soliciting Gaddafi.

"But we always hold our views on the principles of justice and human dignity very straight," Awad said on WPFW radio in Washington, D.C. "We never received a penny from his group, from his government. And in fact when he started abusing and killing civilians we condemned him and we support the international community's effort to restore justice and peace to Libya by protecting civilians. We're very, very principled when it comes to these matters."

The United States and other Western governments were not as principled, Awad said. "We should not wait until these regimes collapse so that we stand with the people who have been oppressed by these people … Our foreign policy has to be aligned with our values, the values of equality, justice, freedom and all these things that we always try to spread around the world and democracy. So when we see an oppressive dictator persecuting his people, killing his people, if this is on the news we speak up. But if it's not in the news we ignore it."

Soliciting money from Gaddafi was not legal until 2007, when the United States removed Libya from its list of terror-sponsoring states. To get to that point, Gaddafi renounced terrorism, gave up his nuclear weapons program and compensated relatives of those killed on Pan Am Flight 103, which was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland in a Libyan plot.

But Gaddafi's regime remained brutally repressive at home. The State Department's report on Libya covering 2009 cited a poor human rights record. "Continuing problems included reported disappearances; torture; arbitrary arrest; lengthy pretrial and sometimes incommunicado detention; official impunity; and poor prison conditions," it said. "Denial of fair public trial by an independent judiciary, political prisoners and detainees, and the lack of judicial recourse for alleged human rights violations were also problems."

CAIR officials loudly condemn Gaddafi's brutal response to the popular uprising against his regime. "Mr. Gadhafi is nothing short of a madman like those who came before him, like Mussolini and Hitler," said Dawud Walid, the head of CAIR's Michigan office.

"The Obama administration," Walid told a reporter, "needs to cut diplomatic ties [with] all of these dictators in the Muslim Arab world and to stop propping up these dictators."

But the solicitation to Gaddafi was not CAIR's only attempt at significant foreign funding from Muslim autocrats. Though its website continues to say that allegations that "CAIR receives foreign money" is "Internet Disinformation," the organization sent delegations to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in 2006 seeking millions of dollars in donations from wealthy Gulf donors.

State Department records show Awad, Hooper and Shaw were part of those delegations. One cable, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, said the group admitted it was in Saudi Arabia "to solicit $50 million in governmental and non-governmental contributions."

Though a U.S. ally, Saudi Arabia's human rights record under the Al Saud dynasty draws frequent criticism. The State Department's report for 2009 listed "torture and physical abuse; poor prison and detention center conditions; arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention; denial of public trials and lack of due process in the judicial system; political prisoners; restrictions on civil liberties such as freedoms of speech (including the Internet), assembly, association, movement, and severe restrictions on religious freedom; and corruption and lack of government transparency. Violence against women, violations of the rights of children, and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, sect, and ethnicity were common."

It's unclear how much money the trip generated. Nothing in the State Department cable indicated that CAIR officials planned to challenge Saudi human rights policies.
Likewise, they opted not to do so with Gaddafi in 2009. "We have felt for years pride and glory in your leadership and your continuing efforts for world peace, and pray and beseech God Almighty to preserve you and bless your efforts and your country," Shaw, a longtime North Carolina state senator, told Gaddafi.

"We want to assure you that Muslims in America are your brothers and supporters," Shaw said. "They share with you your interests and aspirations."