Andrew Rosenthal, "Herman Cain on Libya": Herman Is Smarter Than Andy

In a New York Times column entitled "The Loyal Opposition," which we are told comes from the "desk of Andrew Rosenthal" (mind you, not from his coat closet or door knob), a supercilious Rosenthal asks in his latest opinion piece, "Herman Cain on Libya" (http://loyalopposition.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/herman-cain-on-libya/), that we do ourselves a favor and watch an embedded video. I did myself the favor and listened to Cain contend with reporters questions regarding Obama's handling of Libya.

I'm no fan of Cain and think that given the serious allegations of sexual harassment against him, he has no business running for office, high or low. Also, he stumbled before arriving at an answer. However, in this video, Cain makes far more sense than Mr. Rosenthal would have us believe.

Yes, as asserted by Cain, the nature of Libya's opposition should have been examined by Obama. As I observed in an earlier blog entry (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2011/11/obama-libya-is-recipe-for-success.html), although President Obama sought to showcase his "leadership" in Libya as a "recipe for success" on The Tonight Show, both Obama and Rosenthal fail to observe:

• Qaddafi's stockpiles of anti-aircraft missiles have flooded into the hands of militants in Gaza, and Israel's El Al Airlines is being forced to hurriedly equip its fleet of civilian aircraft with advanced anti-missile systems (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-israel-to-equip-airliners-with-anti-missile-system-as-libyan-arms-reach-gaza-1.395057).

• The flag of al-Qaeda is now proudly flying in Benghazi (http://www.vice.com/read/al-qaeda-plants-its-flag-in-libya).

• Deadly tribal fighting in Libya continues until today (http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=245318).

A "recipe for success"? Yeah, right. However, it's certainly a beguiling attempt at spin by Axelrod & Co., given the paucity of President Obama's foreign policy successes. Let us not forget, first and foremost, Obama's mistaken decision to escalate US involvement in Afghanistan.

Rosenthal should know that the jury is still out regarding the "success" of US involvement in Libya, and it's not over until the fat man sings. Let's see what Rosenthal will be singing a year from now.