Hillary Clinton: Libya Mission’s Progress ‘Demonstrates Really Remarkable Leadership’
Appearing on This Week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said of the mission in Libya: “But what is quite remarkable here is that NATO assuming the responsibility for the entire mission means that the United States will move to a supporting role. Just as our allies are helping us in Afghanistan where we bear the disproportionate amount of sacrifice and the cost, we are supporting a mission through NATO that was very much initiated by European requests joined by Arab requests. I think this is a watershed moment in international decision making. We learned a lot in the 1990s. We saw what happened in Rwanda. It took a long time in the Balkans, in Kosovo to deal with a tyrant. But I think in — what has happened since March 1st and we’re not even done with the month demonstrates really remarkable leadership.”
Gates: ‘No, No,’ Libya Did Not Pose Threat — ‘But It Was An Interest’
Appearing on This Week, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was asked whether Libya posed an actual threat to the United States. “No, no. It was not — it was not a vital national interest to the United States, but it was an interest and it was an interest for all of the reasons Secretary Clinton talked about,” said Gates. “The engagement of the Arabs, the engagement of the Europeans, the general humanitarian question that was at stake. There was another piece of this though that certainly was a consideration. You’ve had revolutions on both the East and the West of Libya…Egypt and Tunisia. So you had a potentially significantly destabilizing event taking place in Libya that put at risk potentially the revolutions in both Tunisia and Egypt. And that was another consideration I think we took into account.”
Hillary Clinton: If Qaddafi Had Massacred Tens Of Thousands, ‘Everybody Would Be Saying Why Didn’t The President Do Something’
Appearing on Meet The Press, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “So this was an international effort that the United States was a part of. I certainly believe it was within the president’s constitutional authority to do so. It is going according to the plan that the president laid out. The United States will be transitioning to a NATO command and control. And then we will be joining with the rest of the international community. And if you look at the region, can you imagine, David, if we were sitting here and Qaddafi had gotten to Benghazi and, in a city of 700,000 people, had massacred tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands had fled over the border, destabilizing Egypt? Everybody would be saying why didn’t the president do something?”
Gates: Libya Mission ‘Has Gone Quite Well’
Appearing on Face The Nation, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the mission in Libya “has gone quite well.” “I think we have been successful a lot. You know, there was never any doubt in my mind that we could quickly establish the no-fly zone, and suppress [Qaddafi’s] air defenses,” said Gates. When asked how long the no-fly zone might be in place, however, Gates said: “I don’t think anybody has any idea.”
Lugar: ‘I Don’t Believe We Should Be Engaged In The Libyan Civil War’
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Richard Lugar said: “Well, I don’t believe we should be engaged in the Libyan civil war. I believe the Libyans are going to have to work that out. The fact is that we don’t have particular ties with anybody in the Libyan picture, and we will have to at least adjust to whatever that outcome may be. But, as far as we’re concerned, as Secretary Gates has said, it is not of vital interest to the United States. American interests are not at stake, and we clearly have already done much more than our part with regard to the no-fly zone, with regard to European friends.”
McCain: ‘It’s No Wonder That Americans Are Confused’
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) criticized President Obama political handling of the mission in Libya. It’s no wonder that Americans are confused,” said McCain, who has strongly supported the principle of intervention in Libya. McCain noted that Obama describes the intervention as a humanitarian mission while also saying that Muammar Qaddafi should go. “The president, I hope, would clarify that in his speech on Monday night.”
Lieberman: Revolutions Are ‘The Most Profound Repudiation Of Al Qaeda And Iran’
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) praised the ongoing revolutions in the Middle East: “These revolutions … are the most profound repudiation of Al Qaeda and Iran, who represent the most serious threats to American security in the world today.”
