The President's Speech

Either Way He Can't Win

That was actually what was said by one of his employees at an Agency-a common refrain to all the criticism leveled recently at President Obama. To his credit he has apparently backed Khadaffi against the wall with all the multilateral western world opinion so squarely against him the NATO resolve has shifted to North Africa to bomb the be-youknowWho out of him.
Reports now circulate in US press (but not BBC) that the African Union has either convinced Khadaffi or the other way around that reforms are on the table and he wants to negotiate with the "extremist" malcontents. Nelson Mandela is Khadaffi's friend. Very Good Friend. Perhaps Mandella or Desmond Tutu's daughter, an Episcopal cleric can serve as mediators in the negotiations.
The US response will be closely watched as the President addresses the nation. So far we have firmly taken the non-negotiable position that Khadaffi is such a bad actor our policy is that he must go. Now what. We negotiate with him? Is he a demon like Hitler? Is he a mass murderer like Milosovitch? Is he just someone so shrewd and unethical that he is able to extort over the barrell the western oil interests who can't get the best deal out of him so they are going to make sure that he hangs like we did in Iraq? Someone who isn't giving us pipeline concessions in as favorable terms so instead of a gold carpet he gets carpetbombed like in Afghanistan?

The President's Speech early next week is going to be an interesting tap dance to watch-
and he will have to try not to look as Megalomaniac as his nemesis. A Nemesis who calls this President a "son of Africa" and even his 'son.'
If Khadaffi is letting out Western journalists unharmed there must be room for good will there.
What can we build on rather than try to destroy. The American people are not going to stand for
oil companies killing off everyone they are too unsuccessful in negotiating with. Send the American executives to the Harvard program on Negotiation.