Rifts have emerged between U.S. military leaders and the Obama White House on Washington’s future role in Libya, with the generals questioning the White House’s argument that the recent success against Islamic State shows Libya can go it alone in the fight against terrorism, without direct U.S. assistance.
Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the White House’s pick to lead U.S. Africa Command, called for increased American military action in Libya to ensure the Islamic State, or ISIS or ISIL, does not reconstitute itself in the country as pressure ramps up against its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
Gen. Waldhauser told a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing Tuesday that U.S. military planners were drafting up battle plans for airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Libya, Reuters reported. The fledgling unity government in Tripoli has enjoyed surprising success in recent weeks in a campaign against the Islamic State’s stronghold in the coastal city of Sirte.
But rules of engagement for U.S. forces in Libya, which require White House approval for any offensive operations in the country, have hamstrung American military planners in the region, according to the report.
Gen. Waldhauser was not the first American combatant commander to call for an increased military role for U.S. forces in Libya. U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Joseph Votel told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing earlier this year that he supported restarting the U.S.-led training mission in the country.
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The Viet Nam war was micromanaged from the White House and we know how that ended.
ReplyDeleteHitler micromanaged his generals like Obama does. You know how that ended.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me, or does Isis show up to control everywhere we invade?
ReplyDeleteSo what is the collective soltution?
ReplyDeletesend tens of thousands of troops over there... again?
He is not leaving, he will be in OUR white house do to a war he wants. map
ReplyDeleteHe don't want to go against his Muslim brothers.
ReplyDelete1:58, No, it's not just you.
ReplyDeleteIt's reality.
They keep showing up because we didn't stay for the long haul and finish the job! We will continue dealing with ISIS until they are dealt with and defeated as Hitler and his regime was after the US and allied countries attacked them, the "bad guys." If we don't do it right, they take over the world. That's their plan. Unfortunately, Obama believes in staying in the background. He's not a true leader.
ReplyDelete