President Obama last month called the failed follow-up to the Libya mission in 2011 the “worst mistake” of his presidency, but the U.S. and its allies now find themselves increasingly being drawn back into the conflict.
A number of U.S. special operations teams have been seen on the ground in northeast and western Libya for the better part of a year, conducting patrols and advising local militias as part of the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State — or ISIS or ISIL — picks up steam, even as the U.S. and its European allies revealed Monday they have begun shipping weapons and equipment to Libya’s fragile unity government to battle the jihadi threat, despite U.N. sanctions.
“If you have a legitimate government and that legitimate government is fighting terrorism, that legitimate government should not be victimized” by a U.N. embargo, Secretary of State John F. Kerry told reporters in Paris after a meeting of some 20 top diplomats.
Libyan Premier Fayez al-Sarraj said his government would soon submit a weapons wish list to the Security Council for approval.
“We have a major challenge ahead of us” in fighting extremists, he said, according to The Associated Press. “We urge the international community to assist us.”
washingtontimes.com
