The difference between Obama and Louis XIV is ...

So, what could go wrong with the US getting into the middle of a civil war in a country, right?

Obama has been working off an awful script right from the first day of protests in Libya.  As he did with Egypt, Obama chose caution and didn't want to express support for those opposing tyranny.  That was a major goof--as the leader of the free world, Obama ought to have publicly stated his support for the rebels.  Such a stand early on would have been pressure enough on Gaddafi to have fled to Saudi Arabia or Venezuela.

At least Obama's sidekick, Joe Biden, didn't assert that Gaddafi is no dictator, as he did in the case of Egypt's Mubarak.  Hey, we have to count our blessings!

And then when the Libyan protests started getting bloody, Obama continued to exercise caution, when many of us--yes, including me--thought he and the West ought to have enforced a no-fly zone.

All this passivity made Gaddafi one bold and confident guy and he upped the ante.

And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Obama goes way above and beyond the idea of a no-fly zone and starts firing missiles into Libya.  Why such unilateral moves without talking to us people, or Congress?

Despite all my posts on this topic, I continue to be shocked and awed by his presidential audacity.  As Mickey Edwards notes (ht)

Obama has made not one but two disturbing choices. The first was to decide that he, not Congress, would make the call to intervene, despite clear language in the Constitution designating the president as the commander but the Congress as the only branch entitled to decide whether to engage militarily. Obama donned the crown even more brazenly than either of the two George Bushes. The first asked Congress to authorize the first Gulf War and the second asked Congress to authorize the use of military force -- meaning that both the first Gulf War and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan proceeded with congressional authorization. Obama, in sending American ships and planes to Libya, simply claimed the right to act on his own. And then did so.
The "I'm King" scenario is bad enough, but Obama also has a second story available if we're not ready to buy that one. In this tale, Obama acted not as a king, but under the authority granted to him by the United Nations Security Council. But while the Founders had their disagreements, none ever envisioned that the question of whether or not to send Americans on a military mission would be left up to other nations. Obama assumed authority for the Libyan adventure on two false premises, not one.

Oh well ... now that we are bombing, we can only hope and wish for success without any major screw-ups.

Wait, it turns out that NATO accidentally bombed the rebels it was supposed to assist!  Andrew Cockburn writes that air power alone cannot do any damn thing, and cites many examples from the inaugural bombing raid in 1911 onwards:

None of these salutary qualifications appear to have had much effect on air power enthusiasts in the current administration, particularly those veterans of the Clinton years who cherish warm, if inaccurate, memories of the Kosovo campaign. So the hard lessons will have to be learned all over again: Jet fighters flying at 15,000 feet — standard altitude in these conditions — have great difficulty spotting targets such as tanks, especially when they make some effort to hide or camouflage themselves. Additionally, in the last week, forces loyal to Kadafi have reportedly taken to moving in pickups identical to those used by the rebels, rendering the task of airborne targeteers even more difficult. For even minimal success, U.S. personnel acting as ground spotters are indispensable, and they, of course, will require further troops to protect them and train local allies — a role now reportedly being delegated to the CIA.

So, what next?

US President Barack Obama has secretly authorised covert assistance to rebels seeking to overthrow Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi

Surely nothing can go wrong, can it?  aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!

Maybe I should stop paying attention to all these, and instead turn my attention to fluff, like this one about the princess-to-be, Kate Middleton: