Three Mideast Wars Confront Returning Congress

Congress returns to Washington this week to confront what is essentially a third U.S. war in the Arab world, as American military forces continue to deploy in Libya. Feeling left out of President Barack Obama’s executive decisions that have put a U.S. task force offshore and warplanes in the air over warring parties on the ground, Congress is bristling with reaction, according to a report in The Hill.

The USS Barry launches a missile early in the action against Libya. (Getty Images Photo)

Those reactions are sparking these actions:

• Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is leading an effort to defund the operation. However, there is little expectation such a measure would pass.
• Then, there is discussion of a resolution that would express support for the American military while calling on the president to provide more clarity about its mission.
• Overall, there is skepticism, reports Politico. With long wars still hot in Iraq and Afghanistan and a federal deficit topping $1 trillion, there is nothing remotely resembling the mood of post- 9/11.

Lawmakers, who left Washington picking over $50 billion in spending, now face a military operation that is rapidly gathering all the earmarks of a new war, observers say.