Obama: ‘Fuss’ Over Libya Is Pure Politics

President Barack Obama
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President Obama is standing behind his decision to authorize military action in Libya, dismissing months of furor over his failure to win Congressional approval before launching strikes as pure politics.

“…A lot of this fuss is politics, and if you look substantively at what we’ve done, we’ve done exactly what we’d said we’d do under a NATO mandate,” Obama said at a press conference in the East Room of the White House Wednesday morning.

“But do I think our actions in any way violate the war powers resolution? The answer is no,” he said. “We have engaged in a limited operation to help a lot of people against one of the worst tyrants in the world…and we should be sending out a unified message to this guy that he should step down.”

It was the first briefing the President has held in 15 weeks, and the 14th of his presidency.

On Tuesday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution supporting a “limited” engagement in Libya sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and John Kerry (D-MA). But last week the House failed to grant the President authorization for military action. House members also voted to defeat a measure that would have defunded parts of the mission.

“Two former nominees for president coming together…that should tell the American people that this is important, and I very much appreciate their help in that regard,” Obama said of the McCain-Kerry bill.

Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi, he said, must step down for the NATO mission to success, Obama said, clarifying the goals of the operation even though the United Nations mandate did not call for Qaddafi’s removal in its resolution authorizing the strikes.

“It’s hard for us to feel confident that the Libyan people are going to be protected unless he steps down,” Obama said. “I would accept him stepping down so that he is not directing armed forces against the Libyan people…I think he needs to go.”

Obama also reiterated his commitment to drawing down troops in Afghanistan one day after armed insurgents attacked a luxury hotel in Kabul.

Last week, the White House announced that the U.S. would withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and 33,000 by the end of next summer.

While acknowledging that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place and will likely remain so in the foreseeable future, Obama said he is comfortable with his decision about reducing troops.

“The tide of war is receding,” he said. “We have shifted to a transition phase.”

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