The Spectator’s Notes | 26 March 2011

There is a school of thought which argues that President Obama’s reluctance to lead over Libya is a brilliant piece of presentation.

There is a school of thought which argues that President Obama’s reluctance to lead over Libya is a brilliant piece of presentation. He wisely does not wish to be seen to attack yet another Muslim nation, the argument goes, but he will, in fact, do what is necessary. There is certainly sense in an American president being asked by others to help, rather than the other way round. But there are two problems. The first is that the ‘backwards into bed’ theory is not true. Until Tuesday of last week, the US administration was genuinely refusing to get involved: in a reversal of the positions over Iraq, the State Department was wanting to go in and the Pentagon to stay out. Everything about the pursed lips of the Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, suggests that he has still not changed his mind.