Escalation

The latest kinetic in our unauthorized adventure in Libya.

President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed drones in Libya, authorizing U.S. airstrikes on ground forces for the first time since America turned control of the operation over to NATO on April 4.

It also is the first time that drones will be used for airstrikes since the conflict began on March 19, although they have routinely been flying surveillance missions, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Thursday.

He said the U.S. will provide up to two 24-hour combat air patrols each day by the unmanned Predators.

The Commander-in-Chief does love him his drones, doesn't he?

If he didn't want to get ripped by our European allies for backing out completely but he remains committed to not committing boots on the ground, we suppose this was the next logical step in this stalemate.

Again, this is all about appearances and not actual results. If we can appear to be acting in a multi-lateral manner without doing too much heavy lifting and Congress doesn't make too much of a stink of it then that's just the way it's going to be.

But given the way this whole thing has played out, when we heard about this decision, we couldn't help but think if there were going to be some crappy jobs numbers report or another bummer Standard and Poor's-like announcement coming out tomorrow.