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The Law : Presidential Deception in Foreign Policy Making: Military Intervention in Libya 2011
Author(s) -
Weissman Stephen R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/psq.12294
Subject(s) - deception , presidential system , political science , intervention (counseling) , law , administration (probate law) , agency (philosophy) , foreign policy , public administration , politics , sociology , psychology , social science , psychiatry
How did a U.S.‐led, U.N.‐ approved military intervention to protect civilians in Libya end up enabling rebels to overthrow the Qaddafi regime? A variety of evidence shows that the Obama administration was dishonest in publicly describing its military purpose as solely humanitarian when it was largely directed towards regime change. Presidential deception prevented the emergence of alternative policies that might have avoided Libya's postwar chaos while obfuscating U.S. responsibility for that consequence. The essence of the deception is set forth below in contrasting statements by President Obama and former Central Intelligence Agency Director and Secretary of Defense Panetta.