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PrintMarch 21, 2011
By the Numbers: Obama's Alliances vs. Bush's Unilateralism
The attacks of Democrat Senator and 2004 Presidential candidate John Kerry against then-President Bush's "unilateral" and "go at it alone" policies of Iraq are something I did not forget yet. I also remember the gleeful reports of main stream media outlets in September 2009 that "Obama tells the world America's 'Go it alone' policy is over."
Just for the record, let us see how Bush's "unilateralism" looks when placed against Obama's working with the world:
At the UN: Security Council Resolution 1441 in the lead up to the 2003 Iraq war passed 15-0 including with the supporting votes of Russia and China, but the resolution on Libya received only ten favorable votes, and five nations didn't support it. Indeed, 1441 didn't give an explicit go ahead for war, but neither did Resolution 678, the UNSC Resolution leading up to Iraq War I, yet few would say that Bush 41 moved on that war without international backing.
Coalition Members: Bush's "go at it alone" Coalition for 2003 started with 46 members, of which some were clown states such as the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. However, 37 nations did after all provide troops and other military assistance for the mission. In Libya, the coalition started out with a mere five members, including Canada that is committing... six fighter jets, which is less than a third of the not-taking-a-leading-role 19 US military planes used in strikes against Libya this last Sunday.
Capitol Hill: President Obama received Zero votes in either Houses of Congress for his Libya mission, but the Joint Resolution to authorize the use of force against Iraq for 2003, passed the House in a 297-133 vote (including the Ayes of 82 Dems), and it passed the Senate in a 77-23 vote (including the Ayes of a majority Democrats, 29-21).
