Tedla Asfaw
President Obama has accomplished the "humanitarian bombing" that started a week ago on Libya against "Gaddafi forces". Gaddafi is still in power and the pickup warriors are moving unchallenged the Libyan desert from Benghazi to West and are knocking on Gaddafi's birthplace, Surt. It will be bombed to rubles for giving birth to Gaddafi the devil.
The famous George Bush speech from aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln under the banner of "Mission Accomplished" in May 2003 was made after George Bush toppled Saddam Hussein in six weeks spectacular air war followed by ground invasion and we know now that toppling Saddam was the easy part of the mission.
What is then is going to be Obama's tonight speech for Americans about "Mission Accomplished" ? If you heard his secretary of defense, Bob Gate, yes the mission to protect the people of Benghazi is now accomplished and no bird let alone Gaddafi's plane can fly now. The West air power had done its job and now time for the rebels to march to Tripoli.
Why not Obama wait until Gaddafi is toppled, captured or killed like George Bush did in Iraq ?. If you hear Bob Gates the answer is USA has no geopolitical interest in Libya, its interest is in Gulf area to protect the toppling of the Saudi Monarchy. In that sense the western mission is accomplished by diverting the attention from the Saudi occupation of Bahrain and the ongoing on crisis in Yemen where Bob Gates said USA has security interest.
Libya is the national interest of Europe and that is why Sarkozy was the main actor of this "humanitarian bombing" and the only leader who recognizes the Benghazi Transitional Council as a legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Wait a minute Obama has told Gaddafi to go too and how can he said mission accomplished ?
Here is Obama's credibility and some call it "USA prestige". If USA and the West stop this bombing short of toppling Gaddafi USA's prestige will be questioned and Americans will punish Obama for that if indeed Gaddafi survives until the 2012 election. We should not worry about that NATO will do the job and as Bob Gates said USA will help NATO by giving its "unique capability". Do not rule out especial commando right on Gadafi's bed room if he has any permanent bed room.
What Obama will not do as he said earlier is he will not send USA soldiers on a ground battle like George Bush did in Iraq. The commander in chief is now to declare "Mission Accomplished" tonight not from aircraft carrier from Libya Coast but from his White House.
Obama is fighting a war for European interest and bombing civilians from air without discrimination is a crime by any measurement. Libyans are dying, children, women. Tripoli is now under siege where is the humanitarian corridor for food and medicine ? Death by Gaddafi or Death from NATO in the days ahead do not make any difference at all. The irony is that the death we see daily in Yemen perpetuated by Western supported killer, Saleh and the aborting of popular uprising in Bahrain by the Saudi soldiers is now ignored by the world media. Do not count Ivory Coast, that is not even a national interest of France that exploited it since the colonial times. The Value of Ivorian lives is much lesser than the Libyan lives according to Sarkozy value of life index. Can we nominate Sarkozy for Nobel Peace/life Prize for his finding and accomplishment ?
Indeed the Mission of derailing the popular revolt in North Africa and Middle East might be accomplished for now make no mistake the "humanitarian bombing" was never a mission of USA. Obama was a supporting actor and he will now drop that role not to jeopardize his reelection campaign in 2012. Another Noble Prize, maybe ?
