It appears that the goings on in Libya and the official US Government's public stance on the situation is too muted for these folks. They want something done and of all things hold the French up for being on top of it while the Obama administration is "measured and guarded". Time for tough talk says they and we must remember that they saw fit to publish an Op-Ed from Paul Wolfowitz about the virtues of sending an expeditionary force there just to keep things tidy. After all, we have 6,000 or so US citizens there and either we pull a Granada or we try and be careful. I vote for careful.
When you sit at the top the world's pyramid of power you can either be reckless or prudent. One thing you can't be is one who wears your heart on your sleeve and makes your position clear to the rest of the world along with to Libya. Pressure therefore isn't public, it is private. It involves someone making a phone call to a friend who delivers the message of displeasure.
Mr. Sarkozy of France is delivering that message. If, like the WSJ opines, you believe that it is France taking the leadership role while we sit mute, well fella, you have the same level of foolishness that the WSJ has. It doesn't take a lot of thought to realize that with France's long standing - well outside our realm - relationship with Libya that Mr. Obama thought and then said to Mr. Sarkozy that perhaps you have more "historical" clout here and you can be the voice of reason that culturally and historically (Libya) might listen to.
Got it?