"President Obama’s speech on the impending war in Libya Friday afternoon was eloquent, passionate and stirring. So much so that it was almost easy to overlook the one thing the speech lacked: an endgame.

A statement of purpose? Sure: “protecting innocent civilians within Libya, and holding the Gadhafi regime accountable.” An articulation of the costs of inaction? Check: “Many thousands could die. A humanitarian crisis would ensue.” A demarcation of lines the U.S. won’t cross? Indeed: “The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya.”

But you can read the speech over and over and still not know when the no-fly zone authorized by the United Nations can be lifted. Obama insisted that he has a “well-defined goal” — “the protection of civilians in Libya.”

At what point is that goal met? When Gadhafi’s forces pull back from Misrata and cease attacks on Benghazi, the rebel capital of Libya? When he enforces his declaratory ceasefire? Or when Gadhafi actually leaves power?

That latter goal is the declaratory policy of the United States. But it’s nowhere to be found in Obama’s conditions laying the groundwork for U.S. participation in a military campaign against Gadhafi. Yet just hours before Obama spoke, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that beyond seeking an end to the violence in Libya, “a final result of any negotiations would have to be the decision by Colonel Gadhafi to leave.” ..."

READ HERE