Obama Sending Planes to Evacuate Libya Refugees

Plans to get al-Saadi Gadhafi out of Libya were 'Indiana Jones-style'

(NEWSER) - The strange story of the plot to smuggle al-Saadi Gadhafi into Mexico gets stranger: Prosecutors now say they actually broke up two plots to get Moammar Gadhafi's playboy son out of Libya and into Mexico, plots that the AP calls "Indiana Jones-style." A Canadian woman, Danish man, and two Mexican suspects allegedly hired pilots to fly from Mexico to Kosovo, then to Tunisia and finally Libya, back in July. More»

Al-Saadi planned to hit resort, now in Niger

(NEWSER) - Mexico says it has uncovered and dismantled an elaborate plot to smuggle al-Saadi Gadhafi into the country and set him up with a new name and identity. The evidently well-funded plotters, which included a Canadian, two Mexicans, and a Dane, flew private jets around Mexico setting up bank accounts and safe houses for Gadhafi—including one at Mexico's Bahia de las Banderas resort, the AP reports. More»

But everyone needs to be patient

(NEWSER) - President Obama called for Moammar Gadhafi to step down in February . Now he and David Cameron are singing the tune in unison. Speaking at a joint news conference in London today, the two leaders restated their position: Military operations in Libya will continue until Gadhafi stops his attacks against civilians and surrenders power. "There will not be a let-up in the pressure we are applying," said Obama, who emphasized, more than once, how long a road he expected this to be. More»

Andrew Sullivan: He's getting the US tangled up in a 'dumb war'

(NEWSER) - Andrew Sullivan delivers a withering critique of President Obama on the news that CIA agents are on the ground covertly helping anti-Gadhafi rebels. It means the president has been "at best vague" and "at worst deceptive" in his public pronouncements, Sullivan writes at his Daily Dish blog at the Atlantic. This "emphatically must be where this war ends. No arms, no troops, and no more CIA shenanigans (God help us)." If not, this misguided war "could wreck, derail, and distract Obama's presidency." More»

President defends decision to intervene in Libya

(NEWSER) - President Obama made his case for the American intervention in Libya tonight at the National Defense University, reports Politico, citing the perfect storm of international support, Libyan rebels' pleas, the United States' ability to avoid committing ground troops—and its obligation to prevent genocide. Some highlights:

• On his decision: Obama says he acted "after consulting" congressional leaders and, "Tonight, I can report that we have stopped Gadhafi’s deadly advance."
• On the US cost: “Because of this transition to a broader, NATO-based coalition, the risk and cost of this operation—to our military, and to American taxpayers—will be reduced significantly.”
• On his urgency: "As president, I refused to wait for the images of mass slaughter before taking action." Further, "We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi—a city nearly the size of Charlotte—could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world. It was not in our national interest to let that happen. I refused to let that happen."