Libya: US Republican Speaker of the House Boehner who has achieved nothing since he became speaker should be the last to critique Obama over Libya

The House speaker, John A. Boehner, on Wednesday pressed President Obama to clarify what the administration hoped to achieve through military intervention in Libya, as top Senate Democrats defended the president’s handling of the crisis.

Mr. Boehner who had earlier struck a more neutral tone, saying America had a “moral obligation” to help opponents of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi while urging the White House to define its intent. But on Wednesday in his letter to the President he supposedly illustrated mounting Congressional wariness over the use of force without fuller participation by the House and Senate as well as uncertainty over how long American military units would lead the military action.

With Congress out of town, three Senate allies of Mr. Obama came to his defense, predicting the president would win bipartisan backing for the country’s role in Libya if it came to a vote when Congress returns from a one-week break next week. In a conference call with reporters, Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who leads the Armed Services Committee, also said he expected United States military forces to hand off responsibility for enforcing the no-fly zone in a matter of days, not weeks.

Given the urgency of stopping the Gaddafi onslaught from entering Benghazi most political observers and European allies have applauded Mr. Obama for rising to the occasion by throwing his support behind the UN resolution based on humanitarian and moral grounds rather than staying out of the conflict for economic reasons.

EU-Digest