US politicians see-saw on Libya fight
Representatives vote not to authorise air war but reject bill to stop its funding.
Members of the US House of Represenatives were given the opportunity to defund the US military effort in Libya or give it their blessing, and on Friday, they did neither.
Angry over not being consulted by President Barack Obama before he launched the US air war in Libya in March, legislators strongly rejected a bill that would have authorised the operation.
Seventy members of Obama’s Democratic party joined Republicans in the vote.
But the House also rejected another bill that would have stopped funding the military strike aspects of the Libya operation.
With Obama arguing the fighting in Libya does not amount to “hostilities” that would trigger the need for Congressional approval, such debates are likely to continue.
Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane reports from Washington.