WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday dismissed congressional criticism of his decision on Libya military action as political and argued that any sign of support from Washington for strongman Moammar Gadhafi makes no sense.
Pushing back against Republicans and Democrats, Obama defended his decision to order U.S. military action more than three months ago and insisted he had not violated the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional authorization within 60 days of the first military strikes. The president claims Americans supporting the NATO-led operation are not engaged in full-blown hostilities, making congressional consent unnecessary.
“We have engaged in a limited operation to help a lot of people against one of the worst tyrants in the world — somebody who nobody should want to defend,” Obama said at a White House news conference. “And we should be sending out a unified message to this guy that he should step down and give his people a fair chance to live their lives without fear. And this suddenly becomes the cause celèbre for some folks in Congress? Come on.”
Said the president: “A lot of this fuss is politics.”
In fact, congressional Democrats as well as Republicans have challenged Obama’s authority and claims.
The Associated Press
