The 90 day window that President Obama had under the War Powers Act to conduct military operations in Libya without Congressional authorization has came and went. Apparently so too has the public’s support for the military actions in Libya. According to a recent survey from Gallup, more people disapprove of the current U.S. military actions there then approve of them. This is a change from March when a plurality supported the intervention in Libya.
Republicans, who at the outset were the most support group, have seen an 18 point decrease in those approving of the intervention in Libya. Independents, while never supportive to begin with, have seen a 7 point decrease in approval. Only among Democrats, who have seen a 3 point increase in the approval for the military actions in Libya, do we see a majority approval for the intervention.
While the Libya story isn’t one that is on the front page day in and day out and it isn’t a story that people are following particularly closely, it does have the potential, if this issue continues to fester, to remove a bit of the national security shine off that president Obama acquired in the killing of Osama bin Laden.
