The Obama Administration has opened the door a crack to the possibility of arming the Syrian rebels: The Obama administration, which has firmly rejected calls to arm the Syrian opposition, appeared at least to allow for the possibility Tuesday by emphasizing that “additional measures” might have to be considered if President Bashar al-Assad continues to [...]

Maybe this is the new big plan for the economy: sell as many weapons to the Middle East as possible. Let a million Rosie the Riveters bloom. That this buildup endangers an entire region, one holding the keys to the current energy infrastructure of the world, is just a sidelight to this, I guess. First, [...]

Leon Panetta, who apparently thinks we’re in Iraq because of 9-11, is very frustrated that the Iraqis haven’t recognized the brilliance of the US military and the need to keep us around permanently. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta voiced frustration with the Iraqi government’s delay in deciding whether to ask the U.S. to keep troops [...]

The US will send $25 million in “non-lethal” assistance to the Libyan rebels as the civil war in that country continues. The package consists mostly of surplus Pentagon equipment, which seems impossible since the Pentagon is so cash-strapped and has to hold bake sales just to get by. The US plans to send $25m worth [...]

Witness the strange little war in Libya, where NATO is running out of weapons but the rebels are not. NATO apparently is running out of precision bombs for use in their air campaign, which doesn’t inspire much confidence in NATO. We’re what, a month into this operation? The shortage of European munitions, along with the [...]

President Obama penned a joint op-ed with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron about the situation in Libya. The President has been awfully quiet about the Libyan mission since announcing it would take “days, not weeks” four weeks ago. But this statement reaffirms the commitment, and actually goes further by all [...]

Hey, remember that Libyan war? Third simultaneous conflict? I know, spending on wars has nothing to do with the budget, so it’s been removed from the discussion lately. Anyway, NATO’s in charge now, and the US bugged out. They’re not even running bombing missions anymore! Except, as friend to FDL Spencer Ackerman points out, they [...]

The debate over whether to arm rebels in Libya still rages, although given that we have CIA operatives on the ground coordinating airstrikes and a secret finding authorizing the President to provide covert support, including arms shipments, it seems like something of a red herring. But for what it’s worth, it’s incredibly unpopular. We knew [...]

This is an appropriately acerbic post from Matt Yglesias that can serve as a catch-up on events in Libya for those who missed it yesterday: Today’s New York Times features Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt reporting that America’s no boots on the ground humanitarian intervention in Libya features ground-based CIA agents (presumably wearing tennis shoes) [...]

The civil war in Libya has hit a snag, from the perspective of the rebels and the international coalition. As quickly has the rebels gained oil cities along the eastern coast, they are now losing them. After meeting fierce resistance on the road to Sirte, the rebels appear in disarray, still outmanned and outgunned by [...]

At the beginning of his conference call today, deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes mentioned the London conference attended by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She met with coalition partners and members of the Libyan opposition, and he said the conference agreed on a dual track of responsibilities for the mission. But he also let [...]