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Obama Faces Complexity In Achieving Justice In Libya

Michael Juliani |
September 13, 2012 | 2:03 p.m. PDT

Assistant News Editor

 

Obama speaking at USC in 2010.  (Shotgun Spratling / Neon Tommy)
Obama speaking at USC in 2010. (Shotgun Spratling / Neon Tommy)

President Barack Obama does not have the option to use military force or economic sanctions against Libya following aggressive protests earlier in the week that led to the death of the U.S. ambassador and three others.

David Blair of the Daily Telegraph said that Obama will have to decide what to do about the killings with a more nuanced approach since Libya is now run by a pro-Western government.

If the country were still under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, an antagonistic force, perhaps the president could tread less lightly, but it seems that Obama's only strategy to deliver consequences for the killings will have to come with the cooperation of the Libyan government.

Blair said that Obama's best choice will have to be an insistence that the United States lead the investigation into the embassy incident, with full privileges given to the FBI and the U.S. military.

On Thursday, on a campaign stop in Colorado, Obama promised punishment for those who instigated and carried out the attacks on the U.S. embassy.  

"I want people around the world to hear me: No act of terror will go unpunished," Obama said.  "It will not dim the light of the values we proudly present to the rest of the world.  No act of violence shakes the resolve of America."

CBS News reported that Obama has launched a "terrorist hunt" in Libya in light of the knowledge that the embassy attacks were carried out by well-armed and well-trained attackers.

The FBI is sifting through the wreckage for evidence, and the U.S. will increase surveillance over the country, including the use of unmanned drones.

Obama also dispatched naval destroyers off the coast of Libya without a specific mission in mind.

If the U.S. determines that the attack was indeed led by a terrorist group and planned out to coincide with the protests, then Obama will have to make a decision about how far he's willing to infiltrate.

According to CBS News, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that it is too early to tell if the attack was planned.

"I know that this is being investigated, and we're working with the Libyan government to investigate the incident.  I would not want to speculate on that at this time," he said.

What the president has done is increase security at U.S. diplomatic stations overseas, especially in Libya.   

 

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of America's involvement with Libya at our blogs Politically Correct and Diplomatic Immunity.

Reach Assistant News Editor Michael Juliani here; follow him on Twitter here.



 

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