Sarkozy Calls for Steering Committee to Manage No Fly Zone

French President Sarkozy has called for a steering committee for the coalition's No Fly Zone over Libya. A steering committee.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the new body will bring together foreign ministers of participating states _ such as Britain, France and the United States _ as well as the Arab League. It is expected to meet in the coming days, either in Brussels, London or Paris, Juppe said.

Juppe said not all members of the military coalition are members of NATO but the coalition would use the military alliance's planning and intervention capabilities.

"For us, the intervention is firstly an operation wanted by the United Nations. It is run by a coalition of member-states, all of whom are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization," Juppe said. "This is, therefore, not a NATO operation, even if it must be able to rely on military planning and intervention capacities of the Alliance."

Not all NATO members are in favor of the no-fly zone and airstrikes against Libya.

President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed the new body and Britain agreed to it, Juppe said.

Tuesday the Armed Forces Secretary in London said there is no exit strategy for Libya.

President Obama again articulated, as he has done daily, that the U.S. will hand over control of the No Fly Zone mission in a matter of days, not weeks. It is expected that France and/or Great Britain will lead the charge. It is mentioned that the headquarters will be in Italy.

Does it get any more confusing? No one is speaking together. Some days the mission is to get rid of Qaddafi. Some days the mission is to protect the people of Libya from the brutality of Qaddafi and a dreaded blood bath to come as he fights to remain in Tripoli.

The slobbering press have asked few questions of Obama about the Libyan No Fly Zone. The slobbering press allow the hateful left to continue the meme that George W. Bush didn't have U.N. approval for Iraq (there were 17 resolutions about Iraq from the U.N. security council) and fails to connect the dots that George W. Bush went to Congress before going into both Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama didn't go to Congress. He sent a letter informing Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Reid of his actions two days into the mission.

Now Obama says we have a humanitarian imperative to go into nations for the sake of its citizens under brutal dictators. Really? Where is the line drawn? Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, and others have all had recent uprisings in protest of leaders.

Obama and the Democrats deny that George W. Bush had coalitions of the willing in both operations into Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama is relying on the Arab League and European countries to carry out Libyan protection. This is a complete abandonment of duty. If he is to commit American power, blood and treasure to a foreign declaration of war, then this is the first time America has not lead the mission. America leads. Period. Without our equipment and talent, there is no mission. It is as simple as that.

There are those on both sides of the political aisle that are against the action in Libya and for the action. The problem is only intensified by the complete inability of this President to articulate the mission and the end game. For a man touted as so articulate, it's all a bit odd. And inexcusable.

It isn't even clear who is commanding operation Odyssey Dawn. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, wasn't able to provide a clear answer as he worked the Sunday news circuit. Mr. Obama said on Saturday the U.S. will "contribute our unique capabilities at the front end of the mission"—presumably B-2 bombers and command and control—but he added that the no-fly zone "will be led by our international partners."

Will that be the French, who said yesterday they have a handful of planes flying over Libya? It won't be the Qatar air force, which is chipping in four fighters. It isn't even clear whether the NATO commander will be allowed to lead the mission, though the military alliance is equipped for precisely this kind of effort. The danger here is that if no one is in charge, then no one is accountable for success or failure.

President Obama didn't want this Libyan rescue. He had to be talked into it by Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice and Samantha Power. Now he looks like a half-assed Commander in Chief unable to lead. By straddling the fence and dithering for three weeks before the decision was made, he has satisfied no one. Including himself.

Former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld once said "weakness is provocative". Rings true now as it did then.