"Mission Accomplished"? Not Really.

Image via WikipediaPresident Barack Obama took to the airwaves in a not-quite prime time address (someone on the White House staff must have known "Dancing With The Stars" was on), attempting to explain to a confused public and members of Congress why the United States and its allies have jumped into another war, this time in Libya.

Obama said the main reason why he thought intervention was necessary stemmed from Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi's willingness to violently retaliate against his own people, through the use of his own armed forces.  A U.S.-led bombing campaign and a no-fly zone helped to avoid a massacre, the President said.

That has emboldened the opposition to Gadhafi's regime inside Libya, as rebel forces took back much of the territory they lost as they move west toward the capital of Tripoli.

Having all but declared "Mission Accomplished", the President said the U.S. would be handing off major combat operations to NATO, and concentrate on their other two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama and other European leaders say they would 'prefer' that Gadhafi be removed from power, but are not going to be the ones to do it themselves.  Instead, they say they'd rather see the rebels come out victorious and do the job themselves.  Which is wishful thinking, given that Gadhafi and his supporters are well-armed and battle-tested while the opposition is not.  Besides, what kind of government would replace Gadhafi?  Didn't we just go through this in Iraq?

There are too many questions and not enough answers concerning this new conflict, which has been less than two weeks old since the Americans got involved.  Such as:  How long will it last?  What will be an acceptable outcome?  And how much will all this cost?  (ABC News' web site reports that, according to the Pentagon, the cost of the first week of American military intervention is estimated at $600 million.)

Does this also mean that Obama will send soldiers into countries such as Syria and Iran to back up the "freedom fighters"?  No, says the President.  After what's been happening in North Africa and the Middle East, you'd think that the dictators would have figured out a way to deal with the rebellions by now.

With three wars going on thousands of miles away, all claiming to defend our national interests and our so-called freedoms, there's one glaring omission:  Who's left to defend the shores that run between Alaska and California, and from Maine to Florida to Texas?