The absence of visible American leadership - indeed, the absence of any Western leadership - might have worked brilliantly for the Libyans, but it has been a disaster for the NATO alliance. There was a price to pay for our silence. Those pictures of them stomping on Gaddafi’s photograph looked a lot more authentic, and will play better in Libya and across the Arab world, than the pictures of Marines pulling down a statue of Saddam Hussein in 2003, his head draped with an American flag. The result: The rebels who marched into Tripoli and waved at Al-Jazeera’s TV cameras looked like a Libyan force, not a Western one - because they were. What we should do instead - to use a much-mocked phrase - is bravely, proudly, and forthrightly “lead from behind.” When the NATO engagement started, I argued that Obama’s best weapon was silence - no false promises, no soaring rhetoric, no threats. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
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