I’m glad to see us taking action against Moammar Qaddafi. Still, two things trouble me: First, if we’re doing this, why didn’t we do it two or three weeks ago, when the rebels had the upper hand, instead of waiting until Qaddafi was wrapping things up?
Second, I’m troubled to see us as a junior partner in this operation. I saw a headline earlier today (can’t find it now), “US joins French operation”. Ugh. Worse, the administration seems to see this as a feature:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged Saturday that the United States would strongly support the international military action to halt Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s attacks on rebels, but she made clear that Washington would not be in the lead.
The US ought to be leading, not following. Still, I’m glad we’re finally doing something.