Success and the reasons behind.

Chuckling Hillary Mocks Slain Dictator

by Jason Ditz,

In the ultimate reflection of the Obama Administration’s carefree attitude toward entering wars, a chuckling Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on television today mocking the death of long-time Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, barely restraining her delight while declaring “we came, we saw, he died.”

The remark was a modern take on the Julius Caesar hendiatris “Veni, Vidi, Vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered), though in Secretary Clinton’s case it would be “Veniimus, Vidimus, Morit.” Since she uses the plural “we came” she could also be referencing the first Ghostbuster movie, however.

President Obama himself termed the slaying of Gadhafi, under what remains mysterious circumstances, a “momentous day,” though he managed to see this without giggling like a gleeful schoolgirl.

The focus on the nature of Gadhafi’s death continues to center on various conflicting stories of his death, including how he managed to get shot in the head after his capture and before his arrival at the hospital.

But the story in the US is mostly in spinning the administration’s decision to start a war without Congressional approval and continue to resist Congressional calls for explanations as a policy vindicated by the death.

Behind the scenes, however, the joy is not so much about President Obama’s potential poll boost, which is sure to be squandered on some other ill-advised war he’ll start or escalate, but in the fact that Gadhafi’s death spares the administration the embarrassment a trial would have produced.

In particular, it means the secrets related to US rendition of dissidents to the Gadhafi regime won’t be coming to light any time soon, though since some of the rendees are now high profile figures in the National Transitional Council (NTC) that issue is unlikely to die completely.

Laughing Senator Graham.

Lets get in on the ground.There's a lot of money to be made in the future of Libya.

By Eli Clifton

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has had no shortage of criticisms for Obama administration’s handling of NATO air support for Libyan rebels. But with news this morning of Muammar Qaddafi’s death, Graham offered a new set of criticisms for the administration’s policy of working with a NATO coalition in Libya. Graham, appearing on Fox News, said:

One of the problems I have with “leading from behind” is that when a day like this comes, we don’t have the infrastructure in place that we could have. I’m glad it ended the way it did. It took longer than it should have. If we could have kept American air power in the fight it would have been over quicker. Sixty-thousand Libyans have been wounded, 3,000 maimed, 25,000 killed. Let’s get in on the ground. There is a lot of money to be made in the future in Libya. Lot of oil to be produced. Let’s get on the ground and help the Libyan people establish a democracy and a functioning economy based on free market principles.

Graham is accurate in his assessment that Libya has a lot of oil and potentially could make a lot of money for U.S. and other western oil companies. But the crudeness of observation and the clear ties between “get[ting] in on the ground,” “lot of oil to be produced,” and helping Libya establish “a functioning economy based on free market principles” make it sound like Graham’s eagerness for U.S. boots on the ground has more to do with economic interests than with securing a democratic and stable country for Libya’s citizens.