Oct. 24, 2011

Obama: Qaddafi Death Ends "Long and Painful Chapter”

By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – President Barack Obama, confirming what millions had heard and watched on national television, announced Oct. 20 that Libyan Ruler Muammar Qaddafi had been killed. 

“This marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya, who now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny in a new and democratic Libya,” Obama said in the Rose Garden announcement. “For four decades, the Qaddafi regime ruled the Libyan people with an iron fist.  Basic human rights were denied. Innocent civilians were detained, beaten and killed. And Libya’s wealth was squandered.  The enormous potential of the Libyan people was held back, and terror was used as a political weapon.”

Like a domino effect, Qaddafi’s fall follows the killing of Sept. 11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden and U.S.-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki – all during the Obama administration.

The manner in which Qaddafi was killed still remains in question. A Libyan transition government has established an investigatory team to determine whether he was really shot by accident as some contend or assassination.

The death of Qaddafi comes after months of protest in Libya that forced the dictator and his family out of his palace and on the run.

“One year ago, the notion of a free Libya seemed impossible,” Obama said. “But then the Libyan people rose up and demanded their rights.  And when Qaddafi and his forces started going city to city, town by town, to brutalize men, women and children, the world refused to stand idly by.”

Obama was not shy in assuming partial credit for the death.

“Faced with the potential of mass atrocities - and a call for help from the Libyan people - the United States and our friends and allies stopped Qaddafi’s forces in their tracks,” he said. “A coalition that included the United States, NATO and Arab nations persevered through the summer to protect Libyan civilians.  And meanwhile, the courageous Libyan people fought for their own future and broke the back of the regime.”