Hillary Clinton, ‘Smart Power’ and a Dictator’s Fall
The president was wary. The
secretary of state was persuasive.
But the ouster of Col. Muammar
el-Qaddafi left Libya a failed
state and a terrorist haven.
'BY THE TIME Mahmoud Jibril cleared customs at Le Bourget airport and sped into Paris, the American secretary of state had been waiting for hours. But this was not a meeting Hillary Clinton could cancel. Their encounter could decide whether America was again going to war.
In the throes of the Arab Spring, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi was facing a furious revolt by Libyans determined to end his quixotic 42-year rule. The dictators forces were approaching Benghazi, the crucible of the rebellion, and threatening a blood bath. France and Britain were urging the United States to join them in a military campaign to halt Colonel Qaddafis troops, and now the Arab League, too, was calling for action.
President Obama was deeply wary of another military venture in a Muslim country. Most of his senior advisers were telling him to stay out. Still, he dispatched Mrs. Clinton to sound out Mr. Jibril, a leader of the Libyan opposition. Their late-night meeting on March 14, 2011, would be the first chance for a top American official to get a sense of whom, exactly, the United States was being asked to support.
In her suite at the Westin, she and Mr. Jibril, a political scientist with a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, spoke at length about the fast-moving military situation in Libya. But Mrs. Clinton was clearly also thinking about Iraq, and its hard lessons for American intervention. . .
But when the choice is between action and inaction, and youve got risks in either direction, which you often do, shed rather be caught trying.'>>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/us/politics/hillary-clinton-libya.html?
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)"We came, we saw, he died, and my friends and I got even richer". I think she loves war and killing in and of themselves, but it's mostly about the money.
That Guy 888
(1,214 posts)elleng
(131,176 posts)Thanks for 'kicking.'
cprise
(8,445 posts)elleng
(131,176 posts)and folks really should notice it.