Pelosi: Libya mission 'strengthened' by continued consultations with Congress

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday reiterated her support for the U.S. military intervention on Libya while saying American participation “is strengthened by the president’s continued consultation with Congress.”

Her comments come amid increasing complaints from lawmakers that the Obama administration has kept Congress out of the loop during the early military campaign. A Pelosi ally, House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.), has been critical of the mission and said “the full Congress should have been more informed and involved in this decision.”

Pelosi issued a statement backing Obama’s policy last Friday, before the mission began but after he briefed congressional leaders at the White House. She has been on an official trip to Afghanistan and Italy, where she and other lawmakers were briefed by the chief of staff for the U.S. Army Africa command that is overseeing the Libya operations.

In her statement Wednesday, Pelosi said “actions taken by the international community have already prevented [Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi] from implementing his threat to ‘show no mercy’ to his own people, including those living in the city of Benghazi.”

“Decisions made in the days ahead are strengthened by our NATO partners’ participation,” she continued. “U.S. participation is strengthened by the President's continued consultation with Congress.”

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