How Libya Became 'Hillary's War'

In the early days of the Libyan uprising, Hillary Clinton was skeptical of the US playing a role in unseating Moammar Gadhafi. But less than a month after it began, the secretary of state had become a “strong advocate” of the idea, according to one administration official. From then on, she became a central figure. The Washington Post examines her role in an extensive article, from the early days when she secured UN support to the start of the NATO campaign, when she kept a fragile coalition from unraveling after France’s controversial early air attack.

Following that, she persuaded the Arab states back into the alliance when they backed off for fear of backlash. When a stalemate appeared inevitable, she convinced President Obama and other governments to recognize the rebels, allowing them to access Gadhafi’s frozen accounts. Five weeks later, Tripoli fell. During the seven-month campaign, Clinton acknowledges there were “periods of anguish and buyer’s remorse,” but ultimately, “we set into motion a policy that was on the right side of history, on the right side of our values, on the right side of our strategic interests in the region.” Click for the full article. (More Libya stories.)