Over a week after the war “kinetic military action” in Libya began, President Obama will interrupt your sitcom reruns at 7:30 p.m. tonight to “discuss how our efforts in Libya have advanced our interests and averted a catastrophe.” (In another signal that this is not a war, Obama will give the address not from the weighty confines of the Oval Office, but behind a lectern at the National Defense University in Washington.) While the momentum has clearly swung to the anti-Qaddafi forces, Obama’s challenge remains convincing a skeptical nation that this costly — in dollars, if not in American casualties — campaign was a necessary use of our armed forces. Over the weekend, the secretary of Defense actually made that task a bit harder, when he admitted on Meet the Press, “I don’t think it’s a vital interest of the United States, but we clearly have an interest there.” Oh … okay. Other major questions Obama will hopefully answer: How much longer will this last? How does it end? Also: Don’t you feel like the term rebel fighters is a little too Star Wars?
Obama gears up for hard sell on Libya [AFP]
In 7:30 p.m. address, Obama to say Libya strikes averted catastrophe [Playbook/Politico]
