The Moral Logic of Intervention

For a time it looked as if the President was determined, whatever the cost, to leave any intervention to Britain and France. In the end, however, the visual evidence in the press and on TV of Muammar Qaddafi's cruelty, as well as the pressure from the President's allies and colleagues, proved too much. Mr. Obama has reluctantly accepted obligations, which he is trying to minimize but which will prove much wider and last longer than he supposes.