Putting the helm hard about

In the end, three women convinced President Obama that he needed to take military action in Libya, according to a fascinating backgrounder by the New York Times. It also confirms part of my speculation about Obama’s thinking.

By Tuesday night, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who was in Paris) became alarmed about the prospect of Gaddafi overrunning the last rebel stronghold in Benghazi. (I suspect Obama was of like mind.) With the clock ticking, she swiftly recruited senior NSC aide Samantha Power (in DC) and UN ambassador Susan Rice (in New York) to join her in a concerted push for military intervention. The Times called it an unlikely alliance. Unholy is more like it. During the 2008 campaign, Power had called Hillary a “monster” who would stoop to anything to win. Power lost her Obama campaign job over the remarks. (She wasn’t wrong about Hillary at the time, but I digress.)

In a meeting with Obama, the women went head to head with SecDef Robert Gates, national security adviser Thomas Donilon and the counterterrorism chief John Brennan. Fireworks ensued according to some reports. The three men remained skeptical about a no-fly zone (it wouldn’t not stop Gaddafi’s ground offensive) and counseled caution. Evidently, the key moment came when Rice said she could get a “tougher resolution” at the UN (meaning airstrikes and a full spectrum of military options short of outright invasion). “That was the turning point for Mr. Obama,” the Times said. As I suspected, Obama, like any smart general, remained leery until a tangible option for victory was put on the table. Airstrikes, unlike a NFZ alone, have a chance of creating the conditions for it.

Obama then ordered up military plans which Adm. Mike Mullen hand-delivered the next day. The day after that, Rice delivered a robust UN resolution as promised. The deal was sealed when, after cajoling, Arab countries agreed to actively participate in military operations if sanctioned by the UN. During a 90-minute meeting on Thursday, “Mr. Obama signed off on allowing American pilots to join Europeans and Arabs in military strikes against the Libyan government,” according to the Times.

There was a catch, though. Ground troops were verboten. And Obama insisted American involvement be “limited and finite.” Per the Times, a senior White House official recalled Obama saying, “Days, not weeks.” Those words are probably being taken out of context since military intervention will take longer than “days” to complete. In fact, the entire narrative as crafted by the Times must be taken with a grain of salt. It’s the first rough draft of history, one that is usually only half right at best. Still, this behind-the-scenes glimpse of how Obama put the helm “hard about” for Libya is intriguing.