Harrison Township, MI – U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10) today made the following statement on the situation in Libya:

“America has the strongest and most capable armed forces in the world, but they should only be used when vital U.S. national interests are at stake and with the broad support of the American people and their representatives in the United States Congress. However, President Obama authorized the use of U.S. forces in Libya without stating what vital U.S. national interest was at stake and without the broad support of the American people or their representatives in the Congress. The use of U.S. forces should never be dictated by any supposed international consensus, but only in support of vital U.S. national interests.

“The President has told us that he was committing American troops because of the broad support for action in the international community, including the United Nations, our NATO allies and the Arab League. Now we see some in the coalition seeking to expand the mandate beyond the goals established in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, the Secretary General of the Arab League saying that his organization is opposed to air strikes in principle and NATO allies fighting amongst each other over who will be in command of the mission. With no agreement among NATO members, the Arab League which seemingly was for this mission before it was against it, no clear agreed upon goals or tactics and no nation or organization looking to lead the effort, I am afraid that President Obama has committed our armed forces to a potentially terrible boondoggle that will only strengthen Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi instead of ousting him.

“It is incredibly troubling when yesterday Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said, ‘This command-and-control business is complicated. We haven’t done something this, kind of on the fly before.’ I ask how in the world can President Obama commit our forces to battle ‘on the fly’ particularly when no clear U.S. national interest is at stake?

“Mr. President, the main reason that you have put forward for our intervention in Libya is a humanitarian concern. If that is the case then you must immediately and clearly define this standard and share with every American when you would again intervene militarily for humanitarian purposes. Ongoing repression in the Darfur region of Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Ivory Coast, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Bahrain, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and many other nations have brought forward serious humanitarian concerns. Do any of these crises meet your new standard? Can the American people and our armed forces expect further military interventions?

“Mr. President, you have failed to state a clear and convincing explanation of the vital national interest at stake which demands our intervention in Libya. You have failed to state a clearly defined mission for our military to defend that interest. You have failed to win the broad support of the American people and the United States Congress in advance of authorizing military operations. The international consensus that you have touted as central to your decision making in authorizing the use of force seems to be intractably frayed. For all of these reasons, I believe you must pull our forces from the coalition immediately.”

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