Obama did not rule out establishing a "no-fly" zone over Libya, a move that his Pentagon chief said a day earlier would amount to an act of war because it would require bombing Libya's air defenses. Although Obama said he was considering a full range of options, he emphasized the U.S. role in helping refugees and heading off a humanitarian crisis.
"Let me just be very unambiguous about this. Col. Gadhafi needs to step down from power and leave," Obama said at a White House news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
I figured a No-Fly zone would be a good threat to impose but I didn't know we had to knock out all of their air-defense capabilities first. We would probably have to destroy the Libyan air force on the ground as well. I guess that is to keep our pilots safe but that would be an act of war. It would be an interesting opportunity for the Air Force to get some Air Aces which is always pretty cool.
An interesting gambit that Obama should try is a Berlin Airlift style thing to resupply the rebels. Maybe drop food and medicine and whatever else. We could also deploy humanitarian forces in Egypt and Tunisia in order to deal with the refugee problem. In other words put an American face on helping these people displaced by Gadhafi's massacres.
Actually if Obama started calling them "freedom fighters" instead of rebels maybe that would have some traction. They are basically fighting for freedom against a murderous tyrant that massacres his own people. Even though some of them might be Islamist it gives no right to their government to gun them down in the street. This gesture of re-branding by Obama would go a long way toward excusing his slow and puzzling response on Egypt and his lack of response on the Green Revolution in Iran.
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