Congressional leaders silent about Obama’s threat of war against Libya

The Wall Street Journal reported at 2 p.m. today:

President Barack Obama will convene a conference call Friday afternoon with congressional leaders from both parties to discuss the unfolding situation in Libya, less than a day after the U.N. Security Council voted to authorize air strikes to prevent Col. Moammar Gadhafi from directing military attacks again armed insurgents.

… the group includes the top Republicans and Democrats in both chambers, including House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), according to a roster distributed by the White House.

As the U.N. Security Council debated whether to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, Messrs. Boehner and McConnell were noticeably quiet about whether the president should send U.S. troops or war planes to battle Gadhafi loyalists. Neither has made a public statement about the Security Council’s Thursday night vote.

It looks as though Obama is not seeking congressional authorization, but simply informing the congressional leaders what he plans to do, and the congressional leaders, as I surmised in the previous entry, have no problem with this.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 18, 2011 11:29 PM | Send