"A Watershed Moment"

Appearing on Sunday morning talk shows, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expounded on the larger meaning of the US Libya intervention.

First, Secretary Gates:  "I don't think it's a vital interest of the United States, but we clearly have an interest there."

Then, Secretary Clinton:  The intervention “is a watershed moment in international decision making. We learned a lot in the 1990s. We saw what happened in Rwanda. It took a long time in the Balkans, in Kosovo to deal with a tyrant. But I think in what has happened since March 1st, and we're not even done with the month, demonstrates really remarkable leadership.”

Here we have an almost perfect example of liberal reasoning when it comes to a proper US foreign policy:  The commitment of US troops only when it's clear that there are no national vital interests at stake (or at least when it's not clear that there are) and the measure of success is not the actual removal of a tyrant, but, rather, the commitment of those same troops is achieved by an international, i.e., not a national, body and done so in less than one entire month.

Now that's change we can believe in.