Divisions in the White House

I’m not surprised to see a grumpy response from Foreign Policy to the decision to forcibly oust Gaddafi. We’ll see how accurate their reporting is on the internal divisions in the White House. Those allegedly against going to war with Libya:

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
National Security Advisor Tom Donilon
Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough

Those allegedly for war:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Samantha Power, NSC senior director for multilateral engagement
Gayle Smith, NSC senior director for global development
Mike McFaul, NSC senior director for Russia
Vice President Biden
President Obama

Or, as Steve Clemons says:

“Gates is clearly not on board with what’s going on and now the Defense Department may have an entirely another war on its hands that he’s not into,” said Clemons. “Clinton won the bureaucratic battle to use DOD resources to achieve what’s essentially the State Department’s objective… and Obama let it happen.”

Does anyone hear echoes of Kosovo, when Hillary was notable for her strong advocacy of intervention?

I hope we do not use many DOD resources, and I hope that what little we do use is not very visible. Most of all, I hope Gaddafi is out of power in days, because if this drags on everyone is going to look like a moron.

Author: BooMan

Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.