Clinton, Sanders and the Libya War - Jan 5, 2016

During the last Democratic presidential debate Sanders criticized Clinton foreign policy saying that she is "too much into regime change and a little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences might be.” Clinton responded: "With all due respect, senator, you voted for regime change with respect to Libya. You joined the Senate in voting to get rid of Gaddafi, and you asked that there be a Security Council validation of that with a resolution.” Sanders did not reply. Hopefully he will do it next time when the issue arises again with Clinton or the Republican presidential candidate. The Senate resolution co-sponsored by Sanders calls on Gaddafi to “recognize the Libyan people’s demand for democratic change, resign his position and permit a peaceful transition to democracy.” The resolution urges the United Nations Security Council to consider the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libyan territory "to protect civilians in Libya” but it does not call for war and military action to overthrow Gaddafi. The resolution was agreed to Senate on March 1, 2011. Few weeks later, when the US, EU and NATO began the military intervention in Libya, Sanders told Fox News: "I think one of the things many people are upset about is this war took place without consultation of the Congress, without debate within the Congress...I hope the president tells us that our troops will be leaving there, that our military action in Libya will be ending very, very shortly.” Conclusion: Sanders did not support the Libya war.

I do not agree with the Senate resolution which contains the false statement that Gaddafi was killing thousands of people to repress the revolt. The resolution defends the protesters "demanding democratic reforms" but ignores the fact that they included armed Islamic estremists with Al Qaeda in a significant role. In another false statement the Senate resolution hints that Gaddafi personally ordered the terrorist attack that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270. There is no evidence of his involvement. The Libya former Minister of Justice Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who resigned during the  2011 rebellion, claimed to possess documents proving that Gaddafi personally ordered the airplane bombing but later denied making this claim saying he was misquoted. In 2003, Gaddafi paid compensation to the families of the Lockerbie victims, although he maintained that he had never given the order for the attack.

The U.S. military intervention in Libya is Obama's major foreign policy mistake. Decisions taken at the top of U.S., European and Arab circles have caused the immense suffering of the people at the bottom. The establishment of a no-fly zone in Libya proved to be the first step towards an incremental military intervention that lead to the toppling of the Gaddafi regime. Hillary Clinton and her close associates, former US Ambassador Susan Rice and National Security Council aide Samantha Power, lead the charge advocating the Libya war within the Obama administration. Opposed were Secretary of Defense Gates, the national security adviser Tom Donilon and counterterrorism chief John Brennan. In the end a reluctant Obama, who was also pressed by France, Britain and the Arab League, sided with Clinton on Libya. A groundbreaking article by the Washington Times reports that, according to secret audio recordings recovered from Tripoli, top Pentagon officials "so distrusted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2011 march to war in Libya that they opened their own diplomatic channels with the Gaddafi regime in an effort to halt the escalating crisis.” The tapes were reviewed by The Washington Times and authenticated by the participants. The nation’s highest-ranking generals were concerned that president Obama and Congress were being misinformed on Libya. On tape an American intermediary specifically dispatched by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Libya said: “You should see these internal State Department reports that are produced in the State Department that go out to the Congress. They’re just full of stupid, stupid facts.”

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