Free Republic

President Barack Obama said on Monday the massacre of 16 villagers by a U.S. soldier raises his determination to get American troops out of Afghanistan, while a U.S. official said the accused staff sergeant previously had suffered traumatic brain injury. Sunday's shootings triggered angry calls from Afghans for an immediate American exit. Obama said there should not be a "rush to the exits" for U.S. forces who have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 and that the drawdown must be carried out in a responsible way. The accused U.S. Army staff sergeant walked off his base in the southern province...

The first rule in warfare is aim. Target selected, target engaged, target destroyed. The same rules of selecting and maintaining a clear aim apply when the military is sent on humanitarian missions. For example, we are going to Libya to remove a dictator who is killing pro-democracy demonstrators. An example of how to miss the mark? We are going to Libya to bomb stuff, but we surely are not there to remove the illegitimate and flamboyantly dressed leader. Because regime change is bad. Very bad. We wouldn’t dream of it. The hypocrisy meter is off the charts. Bombing Gadhafi was...

Remember when a crusading president, acting on dubious intelligence, insufficient information, and exaggerated fears, took the nation into a Middle Eastern war of choice? That was George W. Bush in 2003, invading Iraq. But it's also Barack Obama in 2011, attacking Libya. For weeks, President Obama had been wary of military action. What obviously changed his mind was the fear that Moammar Gadhafi was bent on mass slaughter—which stemmed from Gadhafi's March 17 speech vowing "no mercy" for his enemies. In his March 26 radio address, Obama said the United States acted because Gadhafi threatened "a bloodbath." Two days later,...

A coalition of the United States and four other nations launched military action against Libya on Saturday, officials said, as the West tries to force Muammar Gaddafi from power. A U.S. official told reporters on condition of anonymity that a coalition including the United States, France, Britain, Canada and Italy had begun launching strikes on Libya designed to cripple Muammar Gaddafi's air defenses. At least some Arab nations are expected to join the coalition later, the official said.