Sen. Lee: ‘What we are doing in Libya is wrong’

Lee and some other members of Congress from both parties contend the unrest in Libya did not meet the criteria laid out in the War Powers Resolution Act of 1973 that allows the president to go to war without approval of the Congress. 

Although the administration has at times sought to paint U.S. involvement in Libya as a “kinetic military action” Lee said he believes it is a war.

“Regardless of where you might draw that line between one discreet military action ends and war begins, I think it’s pretty difficult to refute the point that once you have troops, once you have uniformed military personal shooting missiles at the defense system of a sovereign nation on that sovereign nation’s oil — trying to destroy that sovereign nation’s ability to defend itself on its own soil — that’s war,” Lee said.

In March, Obama ordered U.S. armed forces to join in NATO-coalition attacks on military installations and forces controlled by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The U.S. has let other NATO countries take the lead in the conflict while also launching new attacks with unmanned U.S. drones.