The State Department gets Libya wrong. Trump should force a correction |
BENGHAZI, Libya — Benghazi remains seared in American minds due to the murder of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens 14 years ago, when Islamist extremists attacked the U.S. Consulate. Today, Benghazi is a very different place.
The murder shocked not only Americans but also Libyans. The 2011 Revolution in Libya began in front of a Benghazi courthouse within sight of the city’s famous lighthouse and abutting the beachfront. Libyans wanted something better, but the Islamists — many supported by Turkey and Qatar — had other ideas.
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Those who murdered Stevens were anathema to Libyans. Family is everything in Arab society, but Libyans disowned sons captured by the Ansar al Sharia or Islamic State ideology. Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army who had spent years in Virginia, launched Operation Dignity to cleanse Libya of the Islamic State terrorist groups.
Over 5,000 Libyan soldiers died after Americans went home. The fight to rid Benghazi of militant........