Obama's Address to the Nation on Libya

Here is a link to the president's speech from the White House website.

I'm concerned with this speech for three main reasons.

(1) Why did it take so long to address the nation about a "war" / "Kinetic Military Action" / "Time Limited Scope Limited Military Action"?

(2) Why can't Obama give a speech without referring to some "straw-man"?

First off, If regional stability was one of the goals from the beginning, why was that not pointed out by anyone in the administration 9 days ago?

In the speech; Obama goes on about how there was going to be a slaughter and we had to get involved to stop it. This too is a legitimate reason to intervene, but it makes less since than the first reason I listed considering that there are people in the Middle East being slaughtered by other dictatorships even as you read this. Why are we not involved there as well?

Secondly, the straw-man argument is one of Obama's most used forms of misrepresentation. The straw-man argument is used to purposely misrepresent those with opinions which don't align with Obama's.

These quotes are from Obama's address to the nation on Monday 03-28-11

So for those who doubted our capacity to carry out this operation, I want to be clear: The United States of America has done what we said we would do.

Who exactly doubted that we could create a no-fly zone over Libya? Even Gadaffi's opposition knew we could do that!

Now, just as there are those who have argued against intervention in Libya, there are others who have suggested that we broaden our military mission beyond the task of protecting the Libyan people, and do whatever it takes to bring down Qaddafi and usher in a new government.

Obama so eloquently lays down both extremes in this situation so he can casually walk down the middle and claim that he's doing it right.

I believe that this movement of change cannot be turned back, and that we must stand alongside those who believe in the same core principles that have guided us through many storms: our opposition to violence directed at one’s own people; our support for a set of universal rights, including the freedom for people to express themselves and choose their leaders; our support for governments that are ultimately responsive to the aspirations of the people.

This last quote is unbelievable. Who are "those who believe in the same core principles that have guided us through storms..."? The Secretary of State doesn't know who "those" are, top officials at The Pentagon don't know who "those" are. There is a reason that we are hesitant to arm "those". Nobody knows who "those" are! But Obama can somehow see into the hearts of "those" and tell that they have "the same core principles" as most Americans? This is a classic textbook example of sophistry.

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