I have emailed Senators Feinstein and Boxer twice and Congresswoman Eshoo once about this - I strongly oppose this nonsensical military (or not) intervention in Libya.
The last thing we need is another quagmire. Plus there is a lot of potential for things to go wrong -- and WHY?!
I recommended they require the Obama Adminstration to provide clear goals, scope, budget of "this" (whatever you want to call it)to Congress.
Only Congresswoman Eshoo gave me a response, which I took to be a lukewarm endorsement of Obama's changing actions. He has come across as undecided, yet our money flows over there.
As an individual taxpayer, my only conclusion is this is an excuse for American industry to manufacture costly military hardware, which likely as not will be used against us sometime in future. Outrageous!
Pls contact your representatives if you agree with the OP and me.

C'mon, wars are only bad when started by Republican presidents, same way deficits are only bad if there is a Republican president. Have you forgotten that Obama is awesome? Doesn't matter if he does all the same things (or 10x worse) as George Bush--he's still awesome! Feel the hope and change!

"Doesn't matter if he does all the same things (or 10x worse) "

Such as?

Ten times worse?

Have a question, jarred: Do you support the Ryan plan that the GOP passed in the house?

The GOP Ryan plan that gives huge tax breaks to millionaires, privatizes medicare and does not balance the budget until 2030, requiring the raising of the debt ceiling another 6 trillion.

Do you support the GOP plan?

Or we can talk about your ten times worse actions of President Obama.

The New Boss same as the Old boss.

Check out Dianne Feinsteins and Barbara Boxers voting record you'll find they support the patriot act and also voted for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Feinsteins husband stands to make lots of money on foreclosures after a bill she just passed. Trust me sending your letters to both of those incumbents will be a waste of paper.

I wish to be very clear. I will never, ever, vote for a Republican. However, I will not vote at all, in 2012. President Obama has lost my participation. He has betrayed my trust.

Karen:

Understand the frustration.

You know the response: staying home is not an answer, it's how extremists like Scott Walker get elected.

Not voting is a vote for the party that put us INTO Iraq and Afghanistan, both still light years worse than Libya, where we at least have the support of most major nations.

Not voting means the republican passed bill of more tax cuts for the wealthy and ending medicare becomes law.

Do not allow your quest for a perfect democrat (there isn't one) keep you from making the correct decision.

al norte sm,

I know the drill, but I refuse to buy into it. President Obama has not only followed in the evil footsteps of GWB, but he has surged in Afghanistan. Now he is dragging us into a quagmire in Libya. He also engineered a military coup in Egypt.

The way to stop fighting wars is to stop fighting them, period. It doesn't matter how many times we are told that millions of innocents will die, if we refuse to fight wars...millions will die as well, if we drop the bombs, instead of the boogyman of choice. If Hitler had won, I would simply obey his edicts, until he told me that I must kill someone, then I would refuse, and he would kill me. If Al Queda wins, I will wear the burka and obey my husband, until I am told that I must kill...then I will be stoned to death.

There is no excuse for war.

I will avoid the next election, becasue I feel I have been betrayed by Barack Obama. He is no better than GWB.

"He is no better than GWB."

With all due respect: You have a short memory.

Remember how you felt in January of 2001, and the 2nd week of November, 2004?

Good luck.

Presidents from both parties have put us in armed conflicts where we should have never been in the first place. Stop the finger pointing of party vs. party.

Just to name few (not necessarily all-inclusive) since the end of WWII:
Korea
Viet Nam
Cambodia
Laos
Cuba
Lebanon
Nicaragua
Grenada
Iraq 2x
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Libya

The real question of the day is why does this keep happening? What is in the water at the White House?

Crescent Park Dad,

You failed to mention WWII, WWI, Spanish-American War, Civil War, Mexican-American War, and Revolutionary War...and many conficts in between.

War is bad for everyone. Just stop it.

unbelievable! doesn't anyone have any principles? 10's of millions killed by Hitler including a genocide against Jews in WWII, not to mention what imperial japan did in China and SE Asia. Afganistan was a war against muslin terrorists who attacked this country. Saddam did untold damage to his own people. And you all want to "negotiate" with quaddafi? Obama finally does something (almost) right and you all of the sudden don't think he is fit to be president? (I agree with that, but not because of Libya.) If you can't back your President when he needs to take military actions, you probably are living in the wrong place! If you don't have the ability to difereniate between good and evil and stand up to it, your life must be incredibly empty!

Well said, Obamasaurus.

America needs nation building at home--time to end all foreign aid.

KSA has signed a deal to buy $60 billion of US defense products--very good for American families.

If the MENA states want our help they should pay for it--just like KSA does

No more handouts to the ME.

This is funny! You actually have people supporting an UNCONSTITUTIONAL ATTACK ON Lybia here AND THEY ARE ASKING US IF WE HAVE PRINCIPLES? LOL Yeah, I have principles. It is called the Constitution for the United States of America. Remember, ONLY CONGRESS CAN DECLARE WAR, NOT THE UNITED NATIONS. Where are your principles? Did you take an oath to the Constitution for the United States of America OR NOT? WAI

P.S. By the way, nice post, Crescent Park Dad. Just to let you know there are actually lots of people like us, you may like websites like infowars.com, hourofthetime.com, thepowerhour.com, rbnlive.com, brentjohnson.us, etc. Carry on!

I guess we failed to impeach almost every president since FDR then? Hmmmm. By the way, many muslim terrorists don't seem to have nations to declare war on. Kind of makes that one a bit complicated. You are hiding behind a legalistic argument that may not always be relevent to the reality that needs to be dealt with. On the other hand, removing Obama from office is perfectly reasonable to me. How do you propose we do it? The principle I describe has to do with the differentiation of good and evil. Kaddafi certainly does not fall into the former. I can say with certainty that if you are a kaddafi apologist, you do not have principles. Even Obama has one up'd you on that.

from Gramps, after he visited libya:

""Now we need to increase our support so that the Libyan people can achieve the only satisfactory outcome to this mass protest for universal rights: The end of Gadhafi's rule and the beginning of a peaceful and conclusive transition to democracy that will benefit all Libyans," the Arizona Republican said."

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

One can argue the correctness or necessity of being in Libya. Of being in Afghanistan. Of being in Iraq. Of having hundreds of military bases in countries around the world.

But what kind of whacko declares this "PEACETIME"?!?!?

Oh, right, a republican running for president, who writes an econ editorial. Not only does he declare this peacetime(!) but mittens doesn't even address the recently passed GOP/Ryan house bill that raise the deficit 6 trillion, in an econ piece.

And this guy is the serious candidate?!?! Peacetime?

"Barack Obama is facing a financial emergency on a grander scale. Yet his approach has been to engage in one of the biggest peacetime spending binges in American history." Web Link

Does the GOP have anyone who is serious about security, both economic security and militarily?

@ Karen - I don't think anyone likes a war. But there are times when it is unavoidable. WWII is the obvious example. Or would you rather be speaking German and living in a "cleansed society"? Should we have just ignored Pearl Harbor?

@ crescent park dad

Barry promised his voters no more wars. Same as when Bush Sr promised "No new Taxes". His voters are undestandably mad especially the one's who actually fell for the hope and change B.S.

Agreed wars are sometimes unavoidable but we should have left Europe to take the reigns on this one and sat back and watched much like WW1 and WW2. Let em get beat up for awhile then when all seems lost come and save the day.

With the exception of Saudi Arabia all the MENA nations are parasites looking for more handouts from America.

Saudi Arabia is paying America $ 60+ Billion for defense products--that is good for American families.

We need nation building at home--- in America

No more handouts to parasites in MENA.

Sharon: "Saudi Arabia is paying America $ 60+ Billion for defense products--that is good for American families"

Over the same period, what is America paying for foreign oil?

Over the same period, what is America paying for our military that protects the monarchy, including carrier battle groups in the gulf, the Indian ocean, and the Med?

This is almost a duplicate of your "Apr 22, 2011 at 7:56 pm" post, I meant to ask at the time, does your "handouts" phrase include Israel?

Isn't arming the monarchy and then giving $3B or more every year to Israel for defense at cross purposes?

Crescent Park Dad,

"I don't think anyone likes a war. But there are times when it is unavoidable. WWII is the obvious example. Or would you rather be speaking German and living in a "cleansed society"? Should we have just ignored Pearl Harbor?"

If you don't like wars, then quit fighting them. There is no "good" war. They are all bad.

Ghandi was for peace, because he understood peace. He told the Jews, for exapmle, to accept their fate in the camps. Instead, they fought back and formed a new nation. Now they are attacking their fellow human beings, instead of being a higher ethical order among men.

All wars are avoidable, if we refuse to fight them. Just refuse to kill your fellow human beings, and accept your own death, as well as the death of your relatives and neighbors, then the wars will end. If one does not accept these conditions, then wars will never end.

It is tragic that President Obama has accepted the idea of war as a solution. He has accepted the evil of GWB and Reagan and Truman and FDR and Lincoln and Washington.

The existential threat to America is our national debt.

In addition

--when the first official estimates of GDP growth in Q1 are published on Thursday 28 April,

they are likely to show a US economy growing at a very disappointing rate of only about 1.5 per cent, down from 3.1 per cent in Q4.

Thus, in the period in which QE2 has been underway

– a period in which equity markets have been celebrating the supposedly strong growth of the US economy

– it now seems that real GDP grew at only about its trend rate.

We have a strong need to apply nation building and COIN within the US and Mexico.

Together with Mexico, India and the Anglosphere countries we can thrive and just forget about MENA and AfPak for the next 25 years

–at least.

We will keep an alliance with KSA because they are paying us $ 60 + billion for American defense products.

The rest of the states in MENA are leeches and parasites looking for more American handouts.

No more American handouts to MENA leeches and parasites.

WHO WAS IN THE CONGRESS HOUSE THE LAST YEARS OF BUSH'S PRESIDENCY?
THE DEMOCRATS!!!! SO STOP BLAMING THE REPUBLICANS!
THE DEMOCRATS RULED CONGRESS AND STARTED THE MONEY CRISIS! A PRESIDENT CAN'T DO THAT ALONE, THAT HAS TO INVOLVE CONGRESS ALSO.
SO PLEASE, FOR GODS SAKE STOP BLAMING THE REPUBLICANS!!!
THE REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN OUT FOR A FEW YEARS NOW!
START TAKING YOUR OWN BLAME!
This is not to say that mistakes were not made, but everyone made mistakes. And to say that Obama is 10x worse is an understatement.
Ask the CBO, according them in Feb. the gov't spent 12 trillion dollars!
IMAGINE, ALL OF THAT MONEY IN ONE MONTH,
NOW DONT GO BLAMING THE REPUBLICANS, BECAUSE THE CURRENT PRESIDENT IS OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are not alone, Lone Republican. You are just outshouted in this area...and have to stay in the closet because of the "tolerance" in this area.

Don't worry, there are many of us, though actually I no longer identify with the Republicans since they sold out, I am a Conservative.

Lone republican:

Yes, the repubs are correct. Let's take a look at gramps McCain.

Both sides:

** last week: ""Now we need to increase our support so that the Libyan people can achieve the only satisfactory outcome to this mass protest for universal rights: The end of Gadhafi's rule and the beginning of a peaceful and conclusive transition to democracy that will benefit all Libyans," the Arizona Republican said."

** a year ago, tweeted from Libya after he spent the night with ol' Moammar, via twiiter: “Late evening with Col. Qadhafi at his "ranch" in Libya – interesting meeting with an interesting man.” Gramps, deputy dog leiberman and "unmarried" Lindsey Graham called him a great ally on that trip.

So lone repub, again, Yes!, the repubs are correct.

Take both sides and yes, John mcCain, you are correct.

Much like a broken clock, twice a day.

You also started leaning towards fiscal issues. Seriously, in these days of the GOP/Ryan budget that adds 6 trillion in debt and requires a debt ceiling extension, you probably don't want to go there.

Especially if you support Medicare.

Now that Gen Petraeus is head of the CIA we will focus upon fundamental American interests and nation building at home.

we get our oil from Canada, Mexico and KSA. KSA is paying us $ 60 Billion for defense products--good for American families

1/ We need to help make Mexico functional and align with Canada for our energy needs and to solve our immigration problem

2/ We need to focus upon the Anglosphere + India and Mexico for our economy and defense moving forward

3/ We need to dump the Levant and MENA--they are leeches and parasites on the US economy

China owns $1.1 Trillion of our debt--that is the main existential threat to America.

Petraeus understands that

Yawn.
There goes Sharon again with her fantasy postings about General Petareus.
Will the broken record ever get replaced?

Fortunately we will not get involved in Syria ==which would be a 4th war.
America is wisely becoming more isolationist and we are now commited to nation building at home in the US--we need it.

We have tried to help out in the Holy Land for 40 years--it did not work

Time to stop the handouts to them and invest the money at home in bridges, roads and schools.

we will save at least $ 14 billions/year for domestic investment.

The vast majority of American want an end to dual citizenship for American citizens and a clear focus upon fundamental American interests first in our foreign policy.

There out to be a law--ASAP

There goes Sharon again--bashing the US's one true friend in the Middle East. We have heard this all before. None of it is based on any facts whatsoever.

"The vast majority of American want an end to dual citizenship for American citizens and a clear focus upon fundamental American interests first in our foreign policy."

BTW, Sharon, would you care to post some facts to back up your claim?