War in Libya!

Well, what do you know? The most antiwar president since at Jimmy Carter has authorized his very own military engagement. Frankly, I wondered if he had it in him. It'll be interesting to watch how this frazzles the Democratic coalition. These freaks are reflexively antiwar. Some progressives will hammer the administration as capitulating to Cheneyesque warmongering, while neocon wannabe interventionists will slam Obambi for his useless dithering. Add on top of that the feminist angle --- that Hillary, Samantha, and Susan are hot for high-value targets --- and this makes one hella progressive battle royal!

The feminist angle is at Christian Science Monitor, "A 'gender gap' in Obama administration’s approach to war?", and Althouse, "A feminist milestone: Our male President has been pulled into war by 3 women" (via Memeorandum). And the big headline is a Fox News, "U.S. Launches Cruise Missiles Against Qaddafi's Air Defenses." And at Los Angeles Times, "U.S. warships launch airstrikes on Libya":

U.S. and British warships launch more than 110 Tomahawk missiles at defense facilities on the Libyan coast, a naval commander at the Pentagon says. The strikes are intended to help an international coalition establish a no-fly zone in Libya ....

The U.S. is on the "leading edge" of the coalition military action that is designed to prevent further attacks against Libyan citizens, especially around the city of Benghazi, the main stronghold of rebels seeking to overthrow Kadafi's regime. The U.S. strikes are intended to defeat the Libyan government's ability to resist the implementation of a no-fly zone, said a senior U.S. military official.

The U.S. moved ahead Saturday with a three-pronged approach in what has been code named Operation Odyssey Dawn: launch targeted cruise missiles against Libyan air defenses, jam communications of Kadafi's forces and establish the central command and control for the operations.

Also previously at Wall Street Journal, "Allies Rally Against Gadhafi: Obama Demands That Libya Halt Attacks on Civilians as World Leaders Plot Military Strategy."