Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) issued the following
response to President Obama’s speech at the State Department regarding the
so-called Arab Spring:

“We all want to be supportive of our President as he
attempts to broaden America’s positive role in the Middle East and North
Africa. But it is important to critically analyze what the President does, not
what he says, when it comes to U.S. policy abroad. When the President says
‘[i]t will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the
region, and to support transitions to democracy,’ we must look more carefully
at how this policy has been implemented as well as the implications of the
actions that have already been taken.

“President Obama violated the Constitution by pursuing
war against Libya without a Constitutionally-required authorization for the use
of military force or declaration of war from Congress. His actions, and now his
policy recitations, set the stage for more interventions, presumably in Syria
and Iran. His recounting of the reasons for U.S. intervention in Libya is at
odds with the facts.  There was no
clear evidence of an impending massacre in Libya. There was menacing rhetoric
and a violent government put-down of an armed insurrection which may have been
joined by some with legitimate non-violent aspirations. No one can justify the
actions of any parties to this conflict. In any case, discretion requires
leaders to move with the utmost care in developing military responses to
rhetoric and similar care to intervention in a civil war.

“The UN mandate to protect civilians was exceeded
almost immediately and used as a pretext for regime change. The U.S. and NATO
are one in Libya. Our nation, through NATO, has taken sides in a civil war
which is spreading more violence throughout Libya and putting more civilians at
risk. The Interim Council of the rebels moved quickly to a $100 million oil
marketing agreement with Qatar, unmasking a potential reason for intervention: control
over Libya’s vast oil fields which can yield over $300 million in oil daily.
The military intervention in a civil war against the backdrop of a struggle for
oil casts a shadow of doubt upon lofty rhetoric about positive change, peace
and stability. That the U.S. has not intervened militarily in Bahrain and Yemen
demonstrates that violent intervention carries high risks and political
resolution of conflict is desirable. We must be prepared to seek political
resolution of conflicts through statecraft not through military force.

“NATO’s expansion as ‘globocop’ is hardly about peace
and stability. It has people in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the streets loudly
protesting NATO’s onslaught against innocent civilians.

“We have an obligation to work together to make America
safe, but it is important to note that our intervention in Iraq was based on
lies, that ‘the end of combat operations’ in Iraq is not the end of American
occupation, and the war in Afghanistan could drag on for another decade. These
wars, along with the conflicts over Pakistan, Yemen and Libya, will continue to
cost the American people hundreds of billions of dollars and add trillions to
the deficit, diverting resources from pressing domestic needs in health care,
education, job creation and retirement security.

“The President wants to ‘advance economic development for nations
that transition to democracy.’ It would be good to advance economic development
in the United States, since there are over 14 million Americans out of work.
Such a high level of unemployment degrades our own democracy.”