State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh went before the Senate yesterday to defend the administration's use of military force in Libya without congressional authorization.

Koh's interpretation of the War Powers Act allowed the U.S. to continue military operations in Libya absent congressional authorization. President Obama accepted Koh's interpretation over the advice of Attorney General Eric Holder, Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson, and the Office of Legal Counsel. While the president is not obligated to follow the OLC's advice, in practice the president rarely disregards it.

As reports come in that CIA operatives are aiding Libyan rebels and Western leaders are considering arming them, the question of who Libya's revolutionary force actually is -- is worth answering. Juan Cole at Informed Comment makes the argument that the fears that the Libyan rebels are either al-Qaeda members, Hezbollah members, or other revolutionary ne'erdowells is likely false. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't establish a sense of who and what the rebels represent.

Late yesterday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously (with five nations abstaining) to create a no-fly zone in Libya and to use "all necessary measures" to ostensibly protect civilians who might be crushed in backlash against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. Although the resolution allows for airstrikes and artillery fire, it prohibits the use of an "occupying force" to intervene in the civil war. I am not reassured by any of this. Raise your hand if you remember the Iraq debacle.

The Obama administration seems not to have learned from its mistakes in Egypt, where the president trod carefully instead of throwing his support behind the democracy upheaval that ousted Hosni Mubarak.