Ted Galen Carpenter, National Interest: Libya Is a Failed State (and It's America's Fault)
When the Obama administration led a 2011 NATO military intervention on behalf of rebels seeking to overthrow Libyan dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi, there was considerable optimism that the move would produce a much better country. Although U.S. officials and their media cheerleaders acknowledged that significant challenges remained for a post-Qaddafi Libya, they argued that the outcome could scarcely be worse than the oppressive status quo. Events over the past six years have proven their assumptions spectacularly wrong. Libya is now a cauldron of turmoil and Islamic radicalism.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: It was primarily British Prime Minister Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy who pushed for this war .... and when it exploded and they lacked the resources they convinced everyone else to join in. Russia warned at the time that this was going to happen .... Libya becoming a failed state if Qaddafi was removed .... but Putin did not have the clout or influence to change anyone's opinion. So is Libya a failed state because of the U.S. .... the answer is both yes and no. I do recall at the time that President Obama was deeply reluctant to get engaged, even when many on his staff were pushing for it (Hillary Clinton and Samantha Powers come to mind) .... Obama’s Women Advisers Pushed War Against Libya (The Nation). But bottom line .... while President Obama did commit to the fight, there is a lot of blame to go around, and the U.S. is not the only guilty party to this mess.
7 comments:
I agree with WNU's assessment.
I thought Berlusconi was there with the French president as well, but I must be wrong or he must have been a johny come lately.
"Italy and Silvio Berlusconi face Libya dilemma" -BBC
"US Defence Secretary Robert Gates suggested Italy and France could take the lead in such a venture, as their shores are close to Libya.
Rome's first reaction was symptomatic of the less than unified Western response to this crisis. The defence minister said Italy could not act on its own, and that this was a matter for both the UN and Nato.
But a more general dragging of Italian feet has been evident in other areas, to"
Obama did drag his feet and was reluctant, but he did it. Maybe the Bamster needed more time to grow in the office like another 10 terms?
US should have taken Libya out when they were engaged in a terrorist campaign.
"We came, we saw, he died, HA HA HA HA HA!!"
Hillary Clinton Oct 20, 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgcd1ghag5Y
Jim Brown,
George Bush made a deal with Gaddaffi. We would leave him alone on two conditions
There would be no further terror attacks on the U.S. (Lockerbie, Berlin Cafe) and he would give up his WMD programs.
It was a good deal for the U.S., which the execrable Obama broke.
Gaddaffi was a bad guy in many, many ways. On a personal level he would sexually assault women on a regular basis. But there are a lot of national leaders (e.g. Bokhassa) that do similar things and we do not take them out.
A lot of jihadis came from Libya and went to Iraq. Gaddaffi did not send them. He was hoping they would die and be out of his hair.
Qaddaffi 'surrendered/cooperated' because we took out Saddam. It was freebie for having taken out Saddam. We did not have the ability to nation build Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The Europeans sure as hell were not going to do it. You might have enough European males who would serve, but their leaders would not spend the political capital.
LIBYA TO GIVE UP ARMS PROGRAMS, BUSH ANNOUNCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Bédel_Bokassa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_insurgency_(2003–11)#Foreign_fighter_nationality_distribution
The destruction of Libya was a collective effort of NATO aided and abetted by the US Congress, to be sure. Unfortunately, Russia did its part by abstaining when they should've vetoed the UN resolution authorizing the campaign. It's a mistake I hope they don't repeat.
I strongly agree with you WNU. This was made by amateurs, they go to war without preparing the after-war.
Carl,
Putin chooses his fights. He did not want Obama / Europe to act against a Russian client state. Comparatively, he felt weak.
A few years later the U.S. was weaker and Putin knew that Obama was a Wuss, so he acted in Syria.
Congress did not abet Obama so much as they are afraid of the Left (Media & institutional groups) and Obama's minority status.
Post a Comment