Is Obama being too soft on Gadhafi?

President Obama is facing pressure to offer more help to the Libyan protesters under attack from Moammar Gadhafi's forces. Is the president abdicating his responsibility?

Obama's critics say his handling of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi's violent crackdown has been both weak and embarrassing.
(Image credit: Getty)

After days of silence, President Obama gave a brief speech Wednesday condemning the Libyan government's brutal crackdown on protesters, labeling the bloodshed "outrageous" and "unacceptable." The president said his administration is weighing "the full range of options," including sanctions against the North African nation. Obama also plans to send Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Geneva next week to confer with other diplomats about Libya. Still, critics have been blasting Obama for days, saying he's failed to support the popular revolt in Libya. Should the president be tougher on Gadhafi?

Yes, Obama's passive response has been shameful: In a dangerous, disgraceful "abdication of responsibility," Obama is doing nothing as "people are being butchered in the streets," says Investor's Business Daily in an editorial. He's leaving a "power vacuum in the Mideast," and "Iran's ruling mullahs and the radical Muslim Brotherhood" will be only too happy to fill it.

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