Libye: Obama s'explique ce soir!

Intéressant d'entendre Obama répondre aux critiques républicaines et démocrates lors d'une allocution télévisée ce soir. Hier, Robert Gates et Hillary Clinton répondaient aux question de "Meet the press".

Obama has relied on his rhetorical prowess to get him out of jams before, but the line he must now walk seemed to become even trickier Sunday when Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared on "Meet the Press" alongside Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and gave a surprisingly blunt answer to host David Gregory's question about whether Libya was a "vital interest" to America.

"No, I don't think it's a vital interest for the United States," Gates said. "But we clearly have interests there, and it's a part of the region which is a vital interest for the United States."

Appearing to sense that Gates' comment would raise further questions about the justification for military action that was deemed not to be critical to the security of the country, Clinton quickly jumped in and expounded on Libya's critical role in the region and its particular significance to American allies.

But in a subsequent appearance on "Meet the Press" just minutes after Gates' remark, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said that he was "startled" by the secretary of defense's assessment of Libya's level of importance to the U.S.

"Before our nation goes to war or has military action, there must be a plan -- there must be objectives, the endgame, what we want to achieve," Lugar said. "And then, at least, some means as to how that's going to occur. That has not happened as yet."

While the possibility raised by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) that Obama's ordering of airstrikes could be grounds for impeachment was an extreme example of Democratic discontent, other members of his own party have begun to more loudly question the White House's approach.

Obama's speech on Monday night will be aimed in part at trying to assure members of Congress and his own political base that he did not commit U.S. forces to another drawn-out slog in the world's most volatile region without first weighing the impact carefully and developing contingency plans.

La totalité de l'article: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/28/obama_looks_to_convey_clarity_on_libya_109364.html