Republican Congressmen question Obama policy on Libya

Two days after US-led coalition forces started air strikes against the Gaddafi regime in Libya, several lawmakers questioned the Libya-policy of US President Barack Obama.

While the lawmakers from the opposition Republican party have been more vocal about it, there has been some muted resistance from Obama's own Democratic party too.

Senator Richard Lugar, the Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reiterated his call for "full congressional debate on the objectives and costs" of Obama's military actions in Libya, "and a declaration of war" to proceed.

"There needs to be a plan about what happens after Gaddafi," Lugar said.

"Who will be in charge then, and who pays for this all.

 President Obama, so far, has only expressed vague hopes," he said.

"With the Arab League already having second thoughts, and Turkey nixing NATO taking over, today there are even more questions. We also have to debate how all this effects the Saudis, Bahrain and Yemen," he said.

"The facts are that our budget is stretched too far and our troops are stretched too far,' Lugar added.

Senator Jim Webb, from the Democratic party, in an interview to the MSNBC news channel said that the Libya mission lacks clarity.

"Yes, we got a vote from the UN Security Council in order to put this into play, but we had five key abstentions in that vote: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Germany," Webb argued.

"We know we don't like the Gaddafi regime, but we do not have a clear picture of who the opposition movement really is.

I've asked this repeatedly to State Department officials, including Secretary Clinton in the past couple of weeks," he said.

Senator Mark Begich, a member of Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed his apprehension over a third military campaign involving our United States service members.

"Although I do not support Gaddafi killing his own people, I have many concerns regarding US involvement.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will continue to monitor the situation and hold the Administration accountable for explaining the objective of the military campaign and other questions," he said in a statement.