Republicans Go Wobbly on Libya

Donald Rumsfeld famously said that a nation goes to war with the army it has, and not necessarily the army it wishes it had. Rumsfeld caught a lot of flak for that statement and rightly so.

When he made that statement, after all, Rumsfeld had been Secretary of Defense for years. And so, if the U.S. Army was not all that he wanted it to be, it was fair to ask: Why not -- and what, if anything, had Rumsfeld himself done to remedy the situation?

Still, despite his lack of tact and seeming refusal to accept responsibility, Rumsfeld was essentially correct: Whatever their shortcomings, the U.S. Army specifically, and the U.S. military more generally, protect our nation. And so, if they’re not everything that we’d like them to be with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, well, that’s too damn bad. Wars never go according to script; there are always surprises and disappointments; and yes, people get killed.

I’m reminded of all this by Friday’s vote on the Kucinich resolution, which would have required a precipitous end to U.S. military intervention in Libya. Eighty-seven House Republicans voted with extreme anti-war leftist Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). That’s a lot of Republicans -- well over a third of the caucus, in fact.

Many congressional Republicans seem to have voted with Kucinich in order to protest Obama’s dismal lack of leadership re Libya. The president, after all, has said virtually nothing about U.S. and NATO war aims and objectives. He has been “leading from behind,” and not very well or effectively at that.

I share this dismay and concern and wish that Obama were more assertive and communicative as commander in chief: Because especially in the information age, words really do matter; they are an integral part of presidential leadership. Yet Obama seems at a loss for words when it matters most.

Still, we have but one commander in chief, and his name is Barack Obama. Indeed, he is the one that we go to war with. And so, congressional Republicans should be doing everything that they can to buck him up. After all, the need for an assertive and engaged U.S. foreign policy doesn’t end with advent of the campaign season, but rather continues to press forward unabated.

In 2013, a Republican president might well want and need Democratic congressional support for a U.S. military operation or intervention. But what incentive will congressional Democrats have to support a Republican president if they know that their GOP counterparts failed to do the same when their man was in the White House?

John Guardiano blogs at www.ResoluteCon.Com, and you can follow him on Twitter: @JohnRGuardiano.