<![CDATA[RealClearPolitics - Articles by John Barry]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/?id=15860Author <![CDATA[Obama's "Covert Intervention" Libya Strategy]]> Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The U.S. military has spent about $1 billion so far and played a far larger role in Libya than it has acknowledged, quietly implementing an emerging "covert intervention" strategy that the Obama administration hopes will let America fight small wars with a barely detectable footprint. 

 

Officially, President Obama handed the lead role of ousting Muammar Gaddafi to the European members of NATO. For this he was criticized by Washington war hawks who suggested that Europeans working with a ragtag team of Libyan rebels was a...]]> <![CDATA[General Petraeus' Next Battle]]> Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The young man peered into a basement office at the White House, where a pair of military officers sat talking. “Does anyone know where General Petraeus is?” he asked. “I’m right here,” the general answered, raising his hand. “They want you in the Oval, sir,” the aide said.

This was June 2010, and Gen. David Petraeus was in charge of Central Command, one of the supreme jobs in the U.S. armed forces. But that was about to change. Minutes before, the president had fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander in Afghanistan. As Petraeus climbed the narrow staircase and headed down the short...]]> <![CDATA[Obama Should Avoid the Politics of Vengeance]]> Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600 <![CDATA[Republican Fear of Debt Is Myopic, Years Late]]> Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600 <![CDATA[Foreign Policy in a Holding Pattern]]> Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0600