Tonight, I'd like to update the American people on the international effort
that we have led in Libya. What we have done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us.
I want to begin by paying tribute to our men and women in uniform who once again have acted with courage,
professionalism, and patriotism. They have moved with incredible speed and strength.
Because of them, and our dedicated diplomats, a coalition has been forged and countless lives have been
saved. Meanwhile, as we speak, our troops our supporting our ally Japan, leaving Iraq to its people,
stopping the Taliban's momentum in Afghanistan, and going after al-Qaeda all across the globe.
As Commander in Chief I am grateful to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, Coast Guardsmen and
to their families, and I know all Americans share in that sentiment.
For generations, the United States of America has played a unique role as an anchor of global security
and as advocate for human freedom. Mindful of the risks and costs of military action
we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world's many challenges.
But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act.
That's what happened in Libya over the course of these last six weeks.
Libya sits directly between Tunisia and Egypt: two nations that inspired the world when their people
rose up to take control of their own destiny. For more than four decades
the Libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant, Muamar Ghadaffi.
He has denied his people freedom, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad,
and terrorized innocent people around the world, including Americans who were killed
by Libyan agents. Last month Ghadaffi's grip of fear appeared to give way
to the promise of freedom. In cities and towns across the country Libyans took to the streets
to claim their basic human rights. As one Libyan said,
"For the first time we finally have hope that our nightmare of forty years will soon be over."
Faced with this opposition, Ghadaffi began attacking his people. As President, my immediate
concern was the safety of our citizens, so we evacuated our embassy and
all Americans who sought our assistance. When we took a series of swift
steps in a matter of days to answer Ghadaffi's aggression, we froze more than 33 billion dollars
of Ghadaffi's regime's assets. Joining with other nations of the United Nations Security Council
we broadened our sanctions, imposed an arms embargo,
and enabled Ghadaffi and those around him to be held accountable for their crimes.
I made it clear that Ghadaffi had lost the confidence of his people and the legitimacy to lead, and
I said that he needed to step down from power. In the face of the world's condemnation, Ghadaffi chose
to escalate his attacks, launching a military campaign against the Libyan people.
Innocent people were targeted for killing; hospitals and amublances were attacked.
Journalists were arrested, sexually assaulted, and killed. Supplies of food and fuel
were choked off. Water for hundreds of thousands of people in Misrata was shut off.
Cities and towns were shelled, mosques were destroyed, and apartment buildings reduced to rubble.
Military jets and helicopters, gunships were all unleashed on people
who had no means to defend themselves against attacks from the air.
Confronted by this brutal repression, and a looming humanitarian crisis,
I ordered worships in the Mediterranean.
European allies declared their willingness to commit resources to stop the killing.
The Libyan opposition and the Arab League appealed to the world to save lives in Libya.
And so at my direction, America led an effort, with our allies at the United Nations Security Council,
to pass a historic resolution that authorized a no-fly zone to stop
the regime's attacks from the air and further authorized all necessary measures
to protect the Libyan people.
Ten days ago, having tried to end the violence without using force,
the international community offered Ghadaffi a final chance to stop
his campaign of killing or face the consequences.
Rather than stand down, his forces continued their advance, bearing down on the city of Benghazi.
Home to nearly 700,000 men, women, and children who sought their freedom from fear.
At this point, the United States and the world faced a choice.
Ghadaffi declared he would show no mercy to his own people.
He compared them to rats and threatened to go door to door to inflict punishment.
In the past we had seen him hang civilians in the streets and kill over a thousand
people in a single day.
Now we saw on regime forces on the outskirts of the city.
We knew that if we wanted -- if we waited one more day, Benghazi, a city nearly
the size of Charlotte, could have suffered a massacre that would have reverberated
across the region and stained the conscience of the world.
It was not in our national interests to let that happen.
I refused to let that happen.
And so nine days ago, after consulting the bipartisan leadership of Congress,
I authorized military action to stop the killing and enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1973.
We struck regime forces approaching Benghazi to save that city and the people within it.
We hit Ghadaffi's troops in nearby Adjabiya, allowing the opposition to drive them out.
We hit Ghadaffi's air defences, which paved the way for a no-fly zone.
We targeted tanks and military assets that had been choking off towns and cities,
and we cut off much of their source of supply.
And tonight, I can report that we have stopped Ghadaffi's deadly advance.
In this effort, the United States has not acted alone.
Instead, we have been joined by a strong and growing coalition.
This includes our closest allies, nations like: the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Denmark,
Norway, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey. All of whom have fought by our sides for decades.
And it includes Arab partners like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates,
who have chosen to meet their responsibilities to defend the Libyan people.
To summarize them, in just one month the United States has worked with our international partners
to mobilize a broad coalition, secure an international mandate to protect civilians,
stop an advancing army, prevent a massacre, and establish a no-fly zone with our allies
and partners.
To lend some perspective on how rapidly this military and diplomatic response came together,
when people were being brutalized in Bosnia in the 1990s, it took the international community
more than a year to intervene with airpower to protect civilians.
It took us thirty-one days.
Moreover, we've accomplished these objectives consistent with the pledge that I made
to the American people at the outset of our military operations.
I said that America's role would be limited and that we would not put ground troops into Libya.
That we would focus our unique capabilities on the front end of the operation and that we would
transfer responsibility to our allies and partners. Tonight we are fulfilling that pledge.
Our most effective alliance, NATO, has taken command of the enforcement of the arms embargo
and the no-fly zone.
Last night, NATO decided to take on the additional responsibility of protecting
Libyan civilians. This transfer from the United States to NATO will take place on Wednesday.
Going forward, the lead in enforcing the no-fly zone and protecting civilians on the ground
will transition to our allies and partners,
and I am fully confident that our coalition will keep the pressure on Ghadaffi's remaining forces.
In that effort, the United States will play a supporting role including intelligence,
logistical support, search and rescue assistance, and capabitilies to jam regime communications.
Because of this transition to a broader, NATO-based coalition, the risk and costs
of this operation to our military and to American taxpayers will be reduced significantly.
So for those who doubted our capacity to carry out this operation, I want to be clear:
the United States of America has done what we said we would do.
That's not to say that our work is complete. In addition to our NATO responsibilities,
we will work with the international community to provide assistance to the people of Libya:
to provide food to the hungry and medical care for the wounded.
We will safeguard the more than 33 Billion dollars that was frozen from the Ghadaffi regime
so that it's available to rebuild Libya. Afterall, the money doesn't belong to Ghadaffi or to us.
It belongs to the Libyan people, and we'll make sure they receive it.
Tomorrow Secretary Clinton will go to London, where she will meet with the Libyan opposition and
consult with more than thirty nations.
These discussions will focus on what kind of political effort is necessary to
pressure Ghadaffi while also supporting a transition to the future that the Libyan people deserve.
Because while our military position is narrowly focused on saving lives,
we can continue to pursue a broader goal of a Libya that belongs not to a dictator
but to its people.
Now, despite the success of our efforts over the past week, I know that some Americans
continue to have questions about our efforts in Libya.
Ghadaffi has not yet stepped down from power and until he does Libya will remain dangerous.
Moreover, even after Ghadaffi does leave power, forty years of tyranny has left Libya
fractured and without strong civil institutions.
The transition to a legitimate government that is responsive to the Libyan people
will be a difficult task, and while the United States will do our part to help, it will be a task
for the international community, and more importantly a task for the Libyan people themselves.
In fact, much of the debate in Washington has put forward a false choice when it comes to Libya.
On the one hand, some question why America should intervene at all, even in limited ways
in this distant land.
They argue that there are many places in the world where innocent civilans
face brutal violence at the hands of their government and America should not be expected
to police the world, particularly when we have so many pressing needs here at home.
It's true that America can not use our military wherever oppression occurs.
And given the costs and risks of intervention, we must always measure our interests against the
need for action, but that can not be an argument for never acting on behalf of what's right.
In this particular country -- Libya -- at this particular moment, we were faced with the
prospect of violence on a horrific scale.
We had a unique ability to stop that violence: an international mandate for action,
a broad coalition prepared to join us, the support of Arab countries, and a plea for help
from the Libyan people themselves.
We also had the ability to stop Ghadaffi's forces in their tracks without putting American
troops on the ground.
To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader, and more profoundly our responsiblities
to fellow human beings under such circumstances, would have been a betrayal
of who we are.
Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries.
The United States of America is different, and as President I refuse to wait for the images of
slaughter and mass graves before taking action.
Moreover, America has a strategic interest in preventing Ghadaffi from overruning those
who oppose him.
A massacre would have driven thousands of additional refugee -- refugees across Libya's borders,
putting enormous strains on the peaceful yet fragile transitions in Egypt and Tunisia.
The democratic impulses that are dawning across the region would be eclipsed by the darkest
form of dictatorship as repressive leaders concluded that violence is the best strategy to cling to power.
The writ of the United Nations Security Council would have been shown to be little more
than empty words, crippling that institution's future credibility to uphold global peace and security.
So while I will never minimize the costs involved in miltiary action, I am convinced that a failure
to act in Libya would have carried a far greater price for America.
Now, just as there are those who have argued against intervention in Libya, there are others
who've suggested we broaden our military mission beyond the task of protecting the Libyan people
and do whatever it takes to bring down Ghadaffi and usher in a new government.
Of course, there is no question that Libya and the world would be
better off with Ghadaffi out of power.
I, along with many other world leaders, have embraced that goal and will actively
pursue it through non-military means, but broadening out military mission to include
regime change would be a mistake.
The task I assigned our forces -- to protect the Libyan people from immediate danger and to
establish a no-fly zone -- carries with it a UN mandate and international support.
It's also what the Libyan opposition asked us to do. If we tried to overthrow
Ghadaffi by force, our coalition would splinter.
We'd likely have to put U.S. troops on the ground to accomplish that mission, or risk
killing many civilians from the air.
The dangers faced by our men and women in uniform would be far greater -- so would the costs,
and our share of the responsibility for what comes next.
To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq. Thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our troops
and the determination of our diplomats, we are hopeful about Iraq's future, but regime
change there took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives, and nearly 1 trillion dollars.
That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya.
As the bulk of our military effort ratchets down, what we can do -- and will do -- is support
the aspirations of the Libyan people.
We have intervened to stop a massacre, and we will work with our allies and partners to
maintain the safety of civilians.
We will deny the regime arms, cut off its supplies of cash, assist the opposition,
and work with other nations to hasten the day when Ghadaffi leaves power.
It may not happen overnight, as a badly weakened Ghadaffi tries desparately to
hang on to power, but it should be clear to those around Ghadaffi and to every Libyan that
history is not on Ghadaffi's side, that the time and space we have provided for the Libyan people,
they will be able to determine their own destiny, and that is how it should be.
Let me close by addressing what this action says about the use of America's military power
and America's broader leadership in the world under my presidency.
As Commander in Chief, I have no greater responsbility than keeping this country safe.
And no decision weighs on me more than when to deploy our men and women in uniform.
I have made it clear that I will never hesitate to use our military swiftly, decisively,
and unilaterally when necessary, to defend our people,
our homeland, our allies, and our core interests.
That's why we're going after al-Qaeda wherever they seek a foothold; that's why we continue to
fight in Afghanistan, even as we have ended our combat mission in Iraq and removed more than
100,000 troops from that country.
There will be times, though, when our safety is not directly threatened
but our interests and our values are.
Sometimes the course of history poses challenges that threaten
our common humanity and our common security.
Responding to natural disasters, for example. Or preventing genocide, and keeping the peace.
Ensuring regional security and maintaining the flow of commerce.
These may not be America's problems alone, but they are important to us.
They're problems we're solving.
And in these circumstances we know that the United States, as the world's most powerful nation,
will often be called upon to help.
In such cases, we should not be afraid to act, but the burden of action should not
be America's alone.
As we have in Libya, our task is instead to mobilize the international community for collective action.
Because contrary to the claims of some, American leadership is not simply a matter
of going it alone and bearing all of the burden ourselves.
Real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well,
to work with allies and partners so that they bear their share of the burden and
they pay their share of the costs.
And to see that the principles of justice and human dignity are upheld by all.
That's the kind of leadership we've shown in Libya.
Of course, even when we act as part of a coalition, the risks of any miltiary action will be high.
Those risks were realzied when one of our planes malfunctioned over Libya.
Yet when one of our airment parachuted to the ground in a country whose leader has so often
demonized the United States, in a region that has such a difficult history with our country,
this American did not find enemies; instead he was met by people who embraced him.
One young Libyan who came to his aid said,
"We are your friends. We are so grateful to those men who are protecting the skies."
This voice is just one of many in a region where a new generation is refusing to be denied
their rights and opportunities any longer.
Yes, this change will make the world more complicated for a time; progress will be uneven.
And change will come differently to different countries.
There are places like Egypt where this change will inspire us and raise our hopes.
And then there will be places like Iran where change is fiercely suppressed.
The dark forces of civil conflict and sectarian war will have to be averted and difficult
political and economic concerns will have to be addressed.
The United States will not be able to dictate the pace and scope of this change, only the
people of the region can do that.
But we can make a difference.
I believe that this movement of change cannot be turned back, and that we must stand alongside
those who believe in the same core principles that have guided us through many storms.
Our opposition to violence directed at one's own's people.
Our support for a set of universal rights including the freedom of people to express theirselves
and choose their leaders.
Our support for governments that are ultimately responsive to the aspirations of the people.
Born as we are, out of a revolution by those who longed to be free, we welcome the fact that
history is on the move in the Middle East and North Africa, and that young people are
leading the way.
Because wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States.
Ultimately, it is that faith, those ideals that are the true measure of American leadership.
My fellow Americans, I know that at a time upheaval overseas, when the news is filled
with conflict and change, it can be tempting to turn away from the world.
And as I've said before, our strength abroad is anchored in our strength here at home.
That must always be our North Star: the ability of our people to reach their potential, to make
wise choices with our resources, to enlarge the prosperity that serves as a wealth spring for
our power, and to live the values that we hold so dear.
But let us also remember that for generations we have done the hard work of protecting our
own people as well as millions around the globe.
We have done so because we know that our own future is safer,
our own future is brighter, if more of mankind can live with the bright light of freedom and dignity.
Tonight, let us give thanks for the Americans who are serving through these trying times and the
coalition that is carrying our effort forward. And let us look to the future with confidence and hope,
not only for our own country but for all those yearning for freedom around the world.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America. Thank you.