“My position is that the United States should not have gone into Libya because again the last chapter isn’t written. This is a snapshot in time,” Bachmann told Christiane Amanpour of ABC’s ‘This Week.’ “Clearly this was about regime change. That is the precursor for the United States’ involvement in another nation’s affairs.”

Bachmann said the result of Gaddafi’s overthrow was a “mess.”

“We don’t know who the next leader will be,” she said, “It could be a radical element. We knew who the devil was that was running. We don’t know that next one.”

She said Libya’s oil revenues could finance a “global caliphate and extremist elements.”

On Iran, Amanpour pressed Bachmann. She had earlier called the plot to assassinate the United States’ ambassador to Saudi Arabia an “act of war.” Iran has denied any involvement in the foiled plot.

Amanpour asked how she would retaliate against Iran if she were elected president.

“I think the one thing that I would do that is very different than President Obama is I wouldn’t take my eye off the fundamental problem in the Middle East and that is an Iran that is seeking to gain a nuclear weapon,” said Bachmann.

Amanpour pressed Bachmann again about what types of force she would use considering Bachmann had already declared the plot an act of war, but Bachmann dodged.

“I would consider the use of everything we need to do,” she said.

Here’s a full clip of Bachmann’s interview:

“The news last night was a great win for democracy and I am encouraged that the conflict in Libya may be coming to an end,” Ellison said in a statement Monday. “What’s needed now is an end to the violence and the beginning of political consolidation. As the country heals and transitions to democracy all Libyans should know that they have a partner in the United States.”

Ellison said Libya needs to continue to be an international effort.

“President Obama’s next move is to indicate to the Libyan people that America, as a 200-year-plus Democracy is at the ready to try to assist in anyway, there are going to be refugees, people are going to need food, water, clothing,” Ellison said on the Ed Show. “It makes sense to do it through the international community, but the United States has to play a role.”

Pres. Barack Obama drew criticism from Republicans by again circumventing congressional approval for the Libyan military operation.

“Reasonable minds can differ on the wars power act and I respect both sides of the debate,” Ellison told Keith Olbermann Monday. But Ellison told Tavis Smiley in March that he thought Obama should have taken the issue to Congress: “I think the real problem is that so many presidents have just ignored the Constitution War Powers Act…So they just dive in whenever they want.  And you know what, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a Democratic or Republican president.”

Ellison supported the Libyan intervention when funding was threatened by congressional Republicans in June. He told MPR at the time that the Libyan conflict was different than Iraq and Afghanistan, where he opposed intervention, because it “did not unilaterally declare war against another country,” and because the action was sanctioned by international bodies like the Arab League the United Nations.

Alexander Burns of Politico notes that former Pennsylvania Democratic governor Ed Rendell, an MSNBC contributor, said on Morning Joe of President Obama, “everyone mocked him, said it wouldn’t work.”

Republicans hoping to get the party’s nod to run against Obama — including Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman — opposed the Libyan intervention by NATO. While Bachmann agreed that Libya would be better without Qaddafi, she opposed military intervention.

“We don’t know who the opposition is,” she said in March. “We have no idea, and no intelligence community will tell you that we know who the opposition is.

“For us to go in with American soldiers on the ground, right now, would be a mistake. We should not go that route. The same with arming — I think that would be a mistake right now.”

In response to the president’s speech a few days later, Bachmann stated that “President Obama is taking sides with Palestine over Israel” by supporting NATO action in Libya. And in April she reiterated her opposition, comparing the engagement to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: “I think we’ve learned lessons that should have kept us out of Libya. Because, again, these tragedies and these travesties that you are referring to didn’t just start because of this war effort. They were happening before.”

Likewise, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson wrote an op-ed denouncing the intervention last March:

When are we going to learn? Injecting American military right into the internal strife of other nations with no clear definition of a successful outcome doesn’t work. Our service men and women who are putting themselves at risk, the taxpayers who are paying $600,000 for every Tomahawk missile launched, and yes, the people in Libya we are supposedly trying to help, all deserve to know what the plan is. That really isn’t too much to ask…

Mr. President, or someone, PLEASE tell us what the plan is. Otherwise, just stop. At the end of the day, what is happening in Libya is a civil war against a clearly bad leader. The world is full of clearly bad and evil leaders, and millions of people being victimized by them. What makes Libya special? Simply enforcing a no-fly zone will cost American taxpayers as much as $300 million a week, and that doesn’t include all those Tomahawk missiles and B-2 round trips. More importantly, those are American crews risking their lives. If there is some compelling reason to be doing what we are doing, tell us what it is.

If, on the other hand, we are once again playing cop to the world, we can’t afford it.

Since his announcement of an exploratory committee for a possible 2012 presidential campaign, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum has been carving out a campaign platform that simultaneously paints President Barack Obama as a failed leader who has no faith in his nation while portraying himself as the hopeful successor whose belief in American “exceptionalism” will fix all the nation’s economic and national security issues.

“America in a nutshell is all about you, and you’re free,” Santorum said Thursday during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where Santorum is a senior fellow and director of the EPPC’s Program to Protect America’s Freedom.

The bulk of Santorum’s speech –- dedicated entirely to his foreign policy stance –- focused on President Obama and his lack of faith in the American people.

“What I see is a consistent policy of leading from behind,” Santorum said, calling out the country’s handling of events in Libya and Syria as examples. “I don’t know if anybody can successfully lead from behind, particularly if you’re talking about deploying our military. … It’s clear to me that this president is trying to hide so that he doesn’t take political heat. This is a president that believes that our [former] policies were wrong and should be apologized for. And anyone who was complicit with us in our policies by their very nature is suspicious and therefore not to be trusted and not to be supported.”

Santorum asserted that thanks to Obama, America’s relationships with all of its traditional allies have worsened. He criticized Obama for not believing in American exceptionalism and recently making the argument that other nations also believe they are exceptional.

Watch Santorum responding to a question asking, “What is so wrong with having to say there are nations that are exceptional, too?”

“Open terrorism [has been] rewarded by this president,” Santorum said. “Our allies are seen by this administration as complicit with our past sins. … As for Libya it’s a morass. If we were going to support rebel forces we should have acted swiftly in the early days.”

He continued criticizing the administration on its continued reliance on foreign oil (“We need more liquid fuels here in America”), on sitting “idly by” in the face of drug-trafficking trends in Venezuela and for looking more and more like Europe (“Soft economic socialism is turning much of Europe into toothless tiger.”)

As for what he would do as president, Santorum suggested a 10-point plan to “reverse our course” and re-establish America’s greatness:

1. See the world the way it truly is: “See evil for what it is and confront it; see decency for what it is and nurture it.” This point involves increasing the country’s military preparedness, which Santorum expounded upon later in the talk, saying America should employ missile defenses.

“There’s some real threats to our country that nobody talks about that I believe are serious electromagnetic pulses … something that could be debilitating to our country,” he said. “There’s no reason not to protect us from such an ominous and consequential threat. And that’s just one missile threat.”

2. Understand that America is in a war. “The failure to define our foes lest we be politically correct does not dissuade them.”

3. Reinvigorate human intelligence in the Middle East. Santorum spoke at length about the need to fight Sharia law, which he sees infiltrating this country:

4. Change foreign policy abroad to promote freedom, equality and democracy.

5. Cease our verbal diplomatic model as good and evil

6. Support conditions of liberty abroad.

7. Resume America’s commitment to humanitarian aid in Africa. Santorum, who helped author a global AIDS bill during President George W. Bush’s term, said that thanks to this policy, there are now more than 200,000 babies in Africa who don’t have AIDS. “This is what I call pro-life foreign policy,” he said. But Santorum said his focus on giving money to fight AIDS in Africa is primarily a national security policy. “States that are dysfunctional … particularly in that area of the world which borders … large Islamic populations, is a breeding ground for terrorists and state sponsors of terrorists. When your population’s being decimated by a disease, it’s very hard to be a successful economic enterprise as a state. … Given the enormity of our budget, it’s a relatively small amount of money, and I think it has been a great investment not just in keeping these states from becoming terrorist havens and state based sponsors of terrorists but in fact promoting the very ideals of who America is.”

8. America must stand by Israel.

9. Work for the release of dissidents in foreign prisons jailed for their beliefs.

10. Restore the teaching of America in school, establishing “youth-informed patriotism.”

Santorum said it is time for America to resume its role as a world leader, and he blamed the current president for kowtowing to the United Nations.

“The world has no leadership,” Santorum said after quoting Pope John Paul II, “Freedom itself needs to be set free.”

Gates and Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced the move at a press briefing Thursday.

Gates reiterated that U.S. troops will not be on the ground in Libya. He also said regime change in Libya was always a political goal, but it will take time.

Speculation for the briefing surrounded the possible naming of Cartwright as the replacement for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen when Mullen leaves the post in October.

Watch the live briefing, which started at 3:00 p.m.

“Now, President Bush got a lot of grief from a lot of different angles for the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War,” Paul said. “But you know what? In both instances, he came to Congress and Congress at least voted on it before we went.”

President Obama sets a terrible precedent with committing to military involvement in Libya, Paul said, and went on to assert the President cares more about the United Nations than Congress.

Even though Congress did vote on military action, many people remain critical of Bush for not asking for a formal Congressional declaration of war. One of the most critical voices of Bush’s handling of the wars in the Middle East has been Sen. Paul’s father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). In January, at the beginning of the current session of Congress, Congressman Paul entered evidence of alleged war crimes Bush was responsible for into Congressional Record via a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ron Paul’s supporters heckled Vice-President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference, calling them “war criminals.”

Bush had to defend himself against Congressman Paul’s consistent criticism of the Bush administration’s foreign policy, as Paul called for a non-interventionist approach. Paul was one of six Republicans to vote against the Iraq Resolution and consistently said both wars were illegal partly because Congress never declared war.

Sen. Paul was speaking at the Iowa GOP‘s “Night of the Rising Stars” event Saturday. The Senator said the most important vote Congress ever takes is whether or not to send armed forces to war, and pledged to fight against it in the coming weeks.

He also told a story about the former owner of his congressional desk, Henry Clay, who was known as the “Great Compromiser.” Paul said there were some deeply held beliefs Congressmen should never compromise on, such as slavery, on which Clay did broker compromises.

“Now some would say the issues we deal with today have no moral equivalency today as slavery,” Paul said. “But I would say that when we think about things, there are questions we should ask. Can a civilization long endure that doesn’t respect life? Will we be judged at some point in time on whether we stood up and said that the law and the land should respect the unborn?”

That remark earned Paul’s most extended round of applause of the night.

He said the country was facing fast approaching a “day of reckoning,” to reach the point when the U.S. can no longer pay its bills and destroy its currency as a result of the deficit and the debt owed to other countries.

Paul pledged deep cuts in the federal budget. He said while Congress debates cuts near $32 billion, people in his home district tell him cutting $500 billion would be “a good start.”

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced Paul and said he’d like to see spending levels back to 2008 numbers, although the federal deficit grew under Bush.

Paul also took a shot at U.S. Sen Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) as he opened his speech, describing a debate he had on the floor of the Senate with him.

He said he told Harkin there could be more investment in infrastructure and education if people didn’t have to pay “Chicago union scale wages” in Iowa or Kentucky, to which he said Harkin told him, “You can’t have any kind of quality products made unless they’re made by union workers.” The crowd groaned, and Paul said you would have to throw out 95 percent of the products you consume if Harkin’s statement was true.

Paul didn’t make any references to his own speculation of a White House run, but said Iowans needed to find the right Republican to run in 2012. Senator Paul will return in the summer for a Faith & Freedom Coalition event, alongside other potential 2012 candidates.

The website Real Aspen rounds up some of the more heated slams of Biden, who flew into the Eagle County Airport Thursday night and proceeded on Interstate 70 in a motorcade using a “rolling roadblock” along U.S. Highway 82 to Aspen. Biden was back in Washington in time for Obama’s address on Libya.

Giving Biden little credit for attending the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic at Snowmass over the weekend, some of his critics pointed out the vice president’s threat to impeach former President George W. Bush if he attacked Iran without congressional approval.

Many leading Democrats, including Colorado’s senior congresswoman, Diana DeGette of Denver, feel Obama should have proceeded more cautiously before involving the nation in a third military conflict in a Muslim country. DeGette and other Colorado lawmakers are receiving a classified briefing on the situation today.

Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, a freshman, and Timothy Johnson of Illinois sent a letter to House colleagues on Monday seeking support for their legislation that they said they would introduce on Tuesday. The bill would stop the use of military force against Libya until Obama seeks and receives authorization from Congress.

During the 2008 campaign, Obama himself said that the president does not have the constitutional authority to order military action “in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

In the letter, the group notes that the president has violated the U.S. Constitution (specifically Article 1, Section 8, which mandates congressional approval of military force).

From the letter:

The ACLU does not take a position on whether military force should be used in Libya. However, we have been steadfast in insisting, from Vietnam through both wars in Iraq, that decisions on whether to use military force require Congress’s specific, advance authorization. Absent a sudden attack on the United States that requires the President to take immediate action to repel the attack, the President does not have the power under the Constitution to decide to take the United States into war. Such power belongs to the Congress.

As Thomas Jefferson once wrote, this allocation of war power to Congress provides an “effectual check to the Dog of war” by “transferring the power of letting him loose from the Executive to the Legislative body . . . .” Letter from Jefferson to Madison (Sept. 6, 1789). Congress alone has the authority to say yes or no on whether the United States can use military force in Libya or anywhere else.

But it is now clear that President Obama has already used significant military force in Libya. On March 19, 2011, the President took the United States into an armed conflict in Libya that has, to date, included a significant commitment of American military force, with targets that have included Libyan air defenses, ground forces loyal to Muammar Qadhafi, and a building in a compound regularly used by Qadhafi. On the first day of combat alone, more than 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired into Libya from offshore naval vessels. Over the past several days, U.S. bombers and fighter aircraft have attacked air defenses and ground forces across Libya. Although there are no reports of U.S. service members killed in action, an Air Force fighter plane and its crew of two Air Force pilots went down over Libya on March 21. According to Marine Times, the rescue of the pilots required seven Marine aircraft and the dropping of two bombs near bystanders. Numerous media outlets report significant casualties among Libyans, including civilian casualties. Moreover, the scope of the commitment made by the United States is unclear, possibly ranging from the protection of civilians to the ouster of the Qadhafi regime.

[...]

The Executive Branch’s assertions of unilateral authority to enter the armed conflict in Libya cannot and should not go unchallenged by the Congress. The decision whether to go to war does not lie with the President, but with Congress. Congress’s power over decisions involving the use of military force derives from the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8 provides that only the Congress has the power “To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water,” among other war powers.

[...]

President Obama has already unleashed Jefferson’s “Dog of war” in Libya, without congressional authorization. That constitutional wrong has already happened. It is now up to the Congress, as representatives of the American citizenry, to exercise its exclusive authority under the Constitution to decide whether the President may continue to use military force there. This decision should be the first order of business for each house when the Congress reconvenes. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions regarding this matter.

Read the full letter here.

“The brave men and women of America’s armed forces are fulfilling critical missions around the world. Now, they are participating in a broad international coalition to protect the Libyan people from a murderous tyrant,” McCollum said in a statement on Tuesday. “While I support the current, limited U.S. mission in Libya, I have serious concerns about deepening U.S. military involvement. President Obama must consult with Congress before further expanding America’s commitment in Libya.”

Franken said that the Muammar Qaddafi’s actions against his own people warranted action. “The Libyan government’s violence against its own people is completely unacceptable,” Franken said in a statement on Tuesday. “Innocent civilians in Libya must be protected from massacre by Qaddafi and that is why I support the action the president has taken so far.”

But he added, “While I personally believe that Qaddafi should go, people need to understand that the purpose of the force we’re using is specifically to protect civilians, not to coerce a regime change. The president also needs to clarify how much this operation is going to cost American taxpayers, and how it’s going to be paid for.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has been critical of President Obama prior to the start of military operations in Libya, hasn’t said much since.

“There’s no question that [Qaddafi] is not a great guy, that the people of Libya would be better off without him,” she told Fox Business Network last Thursday.

“However, on that score I’m reluctant to go in, and I’ll tell you why: We don’t know who the opposition is. We have no idea, and no intelligence community will tell you that we know who the opposition is,” she said. “For us to go in with American soldiers on the ground, right now, would be a mistake. We should not go that route. The same with arming — I think that would be a mistake right now.”

Rep. Keith Ellison has been urging aid for protesters in Libya for weeks on his Twitter feed. Three days before operations began in Libya, he tweeted, “Time to act is now! Libyans dying, being killed, Qadaffi is consolidating & moving forward. World can’t allow another Rwanda, Srebrenica”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar told WCCO on Sunday that she supports military action in Libya.

“Well, you have here a madman who’s basically been starving his country and bombing his own people,” she said. “And so that is why we stood with the rest of the world,” she said stressing the need for an international coalition. “This time we just simply, one, can’t afford it; two, need to work with the rest of the world so that they are participating,”