The Associated Press fact checks President Obama's speech on Libya and is surprisingly skeptical. This is especially interesting because it gets to the heart of the difference between Obama the candidate and Obama the chief executive:
OBAMA: "Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action."
THE FACTS: Mass violence against civilians has also been escalating elsewhere, without any U.S. military intervention anticipated.
More than 1 million people have fled the Ivory Coast, where the U.N. says forces loyal to the incumbent leader, Laurent Gbagbo, have used heavy weapons against the population and more than 460 killings have been confirmed of supporters of the internationally recognized president, Alassane Ouattara.
The Obama administration says Gbagbo and Gadhafi have both lost their legitimacy to rule. But only one is under attack from the U.S.
Presidents typically pick their fights according to the crisis and circumstances at hand, not any consistent doctrine about when to use force in one place and not another. They have been criticized for doing so - by Obama himself.
Presidents may not always act according to a "consistent doctrine" but they do usually try to articulate one that defines their approach to foreign policy and how to act in America's best interests, especially when force might be called for. A lot of people didn't care much for the Bush doctrine, but we all knew what it was.
Don't think the president got the job done last night.
