There was one aspect of Barack Obama’s Big Speech on Libya last night that was particularly curious: for a President who is trying to downplay American involvement in this conflict, he sure went in for good bit of self-aggrandisement. The amount of references to his and his government’s “leadership” — as in, “At my direction, America led an effort with our allies at the United Nations Security Council to pass an historic Resolution” — was really quite striking, at least to these ears. I suppose it’s all about mollifying those voices who argue that the US Pres hasn’t done enough, quickly enough. But it’s hardly going to endear him to some of his more proactive partners in this fight.
Apart from that, it genuinely was about downplaying and qualifying American involvement in Libya. The phrase “costs and risks” appeared about half-a-dozen times; a drumbeat which set the mood of the speech.
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