KENNETH ANDERSON: France Recognizes Libyan Rebels? And a Comment on the Obama Administration’s Vacillations. “The irony, of course, is that our closest allies — France, Japan, or Britain particularly — find this alarming. It would be good if the US would say all those soothing multilateral nostrums — but this administration actually appears to believe them. Or rather, it does not believe them, but has found in them a formula for walking away from its historical role.” It has been fun to watch the consternation that has resulted — but I don’t think it’s good for the United States or for the civilized world.