Kucinich Demands Immediate End to U.S. Role in the War in Libya

My concerns about a war in Libya are not limited to questions of constitutionality, but extend to your criteria for intervention.   If your criteria for military intervention in another country is instability and government sponsored-violence, as you suggest in your letter, we will stretch far too thin our already overcommitted military.   We will also dramatically increase our military presence in the Middle East . Anti-Americanism will rise, accompanied by popular resentment toward a foreign occupier.   If the criteria are more localized, and you will commit our Armed Forces to military intervention only in certain cases of government-sponsored violence against a popular uprising, then we will have an inconsistent foreign policy that will also elicit anti-American sentiment.  

During a press conference at the Pentagon earlier this month, Secretary Gates warned of the negative implications of U.S. military involvement in Libya: "All of the options beyond humanitarian assistance and evacuations are complex. ... If we move additional assets, what are the consequences of that for Afghanistan ? For the Persian Gulf?...We also have to think about, frankly, the use of the U.S. military in another country in the Middle East." [3]   The implications for our own national security should not have been ignored and cannot continue to be ignored.

I am also gravely concerned about the objectives of the intervention.   You stated in your letter that the goal of intervention is "to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and address the threat posed to international peace and security by the crisis in Libya." I wholeheartedly support the Libyan people's desire for democratic reform and representation and agree that the United States has a role in providing humanitarian assistance to Libyan civilians. However, the idea that military intervention for humanitarian purposes in Libya would lead to greater stability in the region runs counter to the track record of recent U.S. - led military interventions in the Middle East and threatens to commit the U.S. to another quagmire in the region.   American military efforts to depose despotic and inhumane leaders of Middle Eastern countries have turned out to be much larger undertakings than Congress was led to expect.   President Muammar Gaddafi can reasonably be expected to hang on until the bitter end in a protracted battle.  

The United States has spent trillions of dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan thus far, with both wars having served to undermine our national and economic security.   The war in Libya has reportedly cost well over $100 million to date, at a time when Congress is forced to decide between cutting funds for keeping our seniors warm in the winters, helping low-income pregnant and nursing women access basic nutrition, and helping struggling middle class workers stay in their homes.   The costs are likely to mount, with the costs to operate F-15s and F-16s used by the U.S. to conduct this operation at approximately $100,000 per hour, including maintenance and fuel costs. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments states that the U.S. costs could "easily pass the $1 billion mark"regardless of how well things go," and put the costs of the operation in Libya anywhere from $30 million to $100 million per week. [4]  

I believe these missteps so far seriously compromise the course of military intervention you have initiated.   The only way I can see to correct them is to stop U.S. participation in the war entirely. As such, I intend to offer an amendment to the next general funding measure to be considered by Congress to defund U.S. military intervention in Libya. Congress must have the latitude to make an informed decision under circumstances in which Congress's predictable desire to support the troops does not skew the debate on the war's legitimacy.

Sincerely,

Dennis J. Kucinich

Member of Congress

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