According to numerous congressional aides, almost no members knew about the no-fly zone language. Most offices thought they were approving a different resolution – with the same sponsor and a nearly identical title – that had been circulating among congressional offices for two weeks.
In a February 22, email obtained by the Examiner, an aide to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) sent a resolution to the staff of members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee condemning human rights abuses in Libya. There was no mention of a no-fly zone.
On March 1st, at 4:03pm, a different resolution was “hotlined.” The only information provided in the hotline email was the title: “S. Res. __ A resolution strongly condemning the gross and systematic violations of human rights in Libya, including violent attacks on protesters demanding democratic reforms, and for other purposes.”
But what Senate offices did not know was that the sponsors had secretly slipped into the resolution the following sentence:
“[the Senate] urges the United Nations Security Council to take such further action as may be necessary to protect civilians in Libya from attack, including the possible imposition of a no-fly zone over Libyan territory”
Imagine if President Bush had slipped language that could put troops into harm’s way past Congress like that. Sen. Joe Biden would have led the charge to impeach him — Biden told us so himself.
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