A top State Department official told Congress on Wednesday that the administration did not have a handle on the consequences of the 2011 intervention in Libya.
A quarter million Libyans have fled their country as terrorist groups battle for control of the nation’s resources. The unprotected borders allow for easy weapon smuggling, and Libya has become a launching point for numerous groups of Islamic militants to join the fighting to the east.
House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce (R., Calif.) called Libya a failed state "awash with terrorist organizations."
Ambassador and State Department official Gerald Feierstein admitted the United States’ "overoptimism" on Libya, saying the government did not realize the weakness of the Libyan institutions or the strength of the divisions.
In 2011, the Obama administration and NATO gave limited support to Libyan rebels who overthrew ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Those rebels have been unable to stabilize the country.
Now, Libya is in chaos and constant violence. Feierstein was unable to point to any hope of ending the violence in the near future. Feierstein said no group currently fighting in Libya was strong enough to win outright and that supporting Libya’s recovery would require a long-term commitment from the United States.
The United States is not currently in a position to help change the situation on the ground. There are no State Department officials in Libya, according to Feierstein. Additionally, the American embassy relocated to Malta to avoid the fighting, in the aftermath of a 2012 terrorist attack on an embassy site in Benghazi that claimed that lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.