If you look back over presidential report cards over the last 50 years you will notice one particular strong pattern: foreign intervention almost never ends well.
With the exception of George HW Bush, who after all did not make it to a second term, foreign intervention is almost always regarded as a mistake and, more importantly, against public opinion.
In the last decade the notorious wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq appear to have turned public opinion against foreign intervention. But there are always rule breakers, and intervention in libya appears to have been generally supported publicly. Instead, it's the way in which we intervene, and the degree of involvement the us has that the public are questioning.
Today President Obama will speak directly about Libya for the first time since intervention began. His grade is yet to be seen, but it is immediately apparent that opinion on Libya could swing either way.
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