President Barack Obama praised the military efforts of the international community and downplayed the United States’ role in the recent conflict in Libya in an address to the country Monday night.
“I said our role would be limited. Tonight I am keeping that promise,” Obama said. “The United States of America has done what we said we would do.”
Obama emphasized that the United States, which was responsible for much of the initial military action in the country, was gradually giving more responsibilities to NATO and other countries.
“In that effort, the United States will play a supporting role,” Obama said. “The risk and cost of this operation will be reduced significantly.”
Obama answered critics who say the country cannot afford another conflict.
“It’s true that America cannot use its military whenever there are human rights abuses,” Obama said. “But that cannot be an argument for never acting.”
Obama said the international community decided to intervene as dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s forces approached the city of Benghazi, which Obama said would have led to a massacre.
“Let us remember that for generations we have done the hard work of protecting our own people and thousands of people across the globe,” he said.
Obama said Americans have a vested interest in Libya’s struggles because a massacre there would have threatened democratic revolutions throughout the Middle East.
Obama also cautioned that, while he would like to see Gadhafi out of power, he would not support using broader unilateral military action to oust him, preferring to operate within a U.N. mandate.
“To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq,” he said. “Regime change there cost thousands of American and Iraqi lives and over a trillion dollars.”
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]