OPINION: Mother's Always Right!

By Roger Madon

My mother, of blessed memory, used to say “If you are going to do something, already, do it graciously.”  Well allow me to paraphrase.  If the United States is going to interfere in the sovereignty of another nation, already, do it competently. 

Recent signals from NATO are that, with respect to the Libyan campaign, more NATO nations are running out of that edifice than a burning tenement building in the City of New York.  President Obama has made it eminently clear that the United States is not going to lead the Libyan campaign and wants some other nation to do it.  His view is he doesn’t want the United States to be accused of making war on one more Muslim country.  Right now he’s counting two in progress and then Kuwait, Bosnia and Kosovo. 

By the President’s calculation that’s five Muslim countries in which the United States unnecessarily, at least according to him, entangled itself.  Libya makes six.  The difference however with the Libyan campaign is that it’s all his.  

The problem however, as today’s Wall Street Journal points out, is once having led the campaign, whether President Obama likes it or not, America’s prestige, credibility and competence is on the line. 

What escapes the understanding of President Obama is that our NATO allies have always considered the United States its butler in charge of military services to appear whenever they ring up.  In some perverse way, since I strenuously disagree with his position, President Obama is now the proverbial subject yelling from the crowd that the emperor, in this case our European allies, has no clothes. 

For decades now the European nations constituting NATO have starved their military in favor of all those wonderful socialist benefits such as national health care, rich and early pensions, long vacations and life-time unemployment insurance.  They have done this with the certainty that when the need arose to address a particular crisis with military software and hardware, they could always count on the Americans. 

It is truly ironic that the American President, who our European allies welcomed with happiness and joy now requests of them that they grow up, get the hell out of the house and pay their own bills.  That’s not exactly the reason of President Obama’s refusal to lead the Libyan campaign. And he seems very uncomfortable and annoyed about their attempt to recuse themselves.

But Mom, you are right again, if you’re going to do something, already, for God’s sake do it graciously.