Lybien – The Trenchant Observer

Barack Obama, CIA, foreign news coverage, France, Intelligence, Libya, Mitt Romney, public diplomacy, religious belief, State Department, Tunisia, U.S. Intervention, United States October 13, 2012

New details on Benghazi attack on consulate, American response

New details about the attack on the American consulate and annex in Benghazi and the American response on the ground on the evening of September…

China, coverage of foreign events, Crimes Against Humanity, Dictatorship, extrajudicial execution, France, History, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Middle East, NATO, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, State Department, syria, Torture, Turkey, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, united arab emirates, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, war crimes November 19, 2011

REPRISE: Syria and the Shame of the World

Originally published August 20, 2011 Bashar Al-Assad is pursuing the Libyan solution to civilian demonstrations–turn your tanks and your weapons on the demonstrators, and kill…

Argentina, Chile, human rights, International Law, Libya, NATO, South America, Torture, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Torture Convention, U.S Foreign Relations, United States, Yemen May 28, 2011

Ratko Mladic to join Radovan Karadic in The Hague; Moammar Qaddafi and Bashar al-Assad await similar fates

The capture and imminent extradition of Ratko Mladic, the butcher of Srebrenice, to The Hague where he will join his partner in genocide, crimes against…

U.S Foreign Relations May 11, 2011

Repression in Syria, and the spread of universal ideals throughout the world

NATO and Libya Fortunately, NATO has begun to act more like a powerful military alliance willing to use its power in Libya, and the insurgents…

U.S Foreign Relations March 22, 2011

“Analyst-in-Chief” muddies waters; “Commander-in-Chief” cannot be found

Urgent Messasge to President Obama: “Stop Talking!” As a lawyer and former law professor, The Observer finds it painful to criticize one from his own…

Barack Obama, Brazil, Chile, France, History, human rights, Latin America, Libya, Saudi Arabia, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, use of force, Yemen March 21, 2011

Shooting Straight About Military Operations in Libya

President Obama and his National Security team dragged their feet until the very last moment, before they gave support to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973…

U.S Foreign Relations March 14, 2011

While Carthage Burns, Obama Dithers

If we think of Carthage not as Tripoli, but as Libya, our title makes sense. Supremely calculating, President Obama doesn’t seem motivated to do anything…

U.S Foreign Relations March 10, 2011

Zawiyah–Qaddafi’s victory, but stories will be told

Zawiyah has fallen, at a human and material cost that may never be fully known. Bill Neely reports to The Guardian his on-the-scene account. How…

U.S Foreign Relations March 8, 2011

Zawiyah 2011 = Srebrenice 2005

While the international community moves to develop a consensus to intervene with a no-fly zone in Libya, Zawiyah is being reduced to rubble. The population…

Afghanistan, Barack Obama, debate over the efficacy of torture, elections, Hamid Karzai, International Law, Libya, NATO, Saudi Arabia, U.N. Charter, U.S. Intervention, use of force March 6, 2011

Libya and “The Audacity to Act”

The Audacity to Act We are watching in Libya an authoritarian state use the weapons of modern warfare to put down protests which were peaceful,…

U.S Foreign Relations March 3, 2011

The Struggle for Democracy in Bolivia, Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Ivory Coast, and Iran

For today’s story, click here. “Trump threatens the rule of law in the United States,” June 16, 2017. For more recent articles on the struggle…