By Corinne Murdock |
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) introduced a bill to terminate the decade-old national emergency over Libya.
Former President Barack Obama instituted the national emergency in February 2011. Gosar pointed out that despite periodic congressional reviews of presidents’ national emergencies every six months, the Libyan declaration hadn’t been reviewed.
“The people of Libya deserve to live in a manner of their choosing without the prospect of U.S. bombings, attacks, or color revolutions thrust upon them by corrupt and misguided American agencies – none of whom are acting with Congressional approval,” said Gosar. “The true situation is that no group or person in Libya currently poses a threat to our national security. Furthermore, even if there was some hostility, none of it rises to the level of an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat to national security and foreign policy.’”
Under Obama’s executive order declaring the emergency, all ties were cut with senior officials and political leaders of the Libyan government, especially allies and family of former Colonel Muammar Qadhafi (Gaddafi).
Gaddafi was assassinated eight months after the emergency declaration. Yet, Gosar pointed out that the continued extension of Obama’s order cited Gaddafi as a reason for the necessity of the declaration.
“Almost hilariously, the extended national emergency related to Libya continues to cite Muammar Qadhafi as the reason for the declaration, even though Qadhafi has been dead for almost 12 years,” said Gosar. “You can’t make this stuff up.”
Gaddafi ruled over Libya for over 40 years, abolishing the monarchy and establishing an authoritarian regime enforced by a police state. Gaddafi immediately began insulating the country from outside influences, shutting down British and American military bases. He then launched a cultural revolution in the 1970s that did away with existing laws, communism, conservatism, fascism, atheism, capitalism, and the Muslim Brotherhood; armed citizens; and established an Islamic state.
Gaddafi’s end came through the Arab Spring color revolution that arose in 2010 throughout Asia and Africa, affecting Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain in addition to Libya.
At the time, Hillary Clinton served as the secretary of state. A year after Gaddafi’s assassination, on Sept. 11, the Benghazi terror attack occurred. Clinton took responsibility a month after the attacks. There remains controversy over whether Clinton gave the “stand-down order” to withhold a Special Operations team from Benghazi.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reports that the U.S. government has invested over $900 million in development, security, and humanitarian assistance in Libya. From 2019 to 2024, the USAID will spend over $23.3 million to establish economic stability in Libya.
According to the latest installment of the World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers (WMEAT), the U.S. military and armed forces expenditures from 2012 to 2019 totaled $520 billion (based on market exchange rate conversion with a base year of 2019). However, these totals may be completely inaccurate: the WMEAT data discloses that these totals were “extremely uncertain.”
The Biden administration ended WMEAT last year. The transparency practice had been in place since 1974.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
