Clinton Says U.S. Response To Libya Has Been "Prudent"

By Mario Trujillo

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton again called for Colonel Moammar Qaddafi to step down from power in Libya and said the U.S. is looking into imposing a no fly zone as well as other sanctions against the regime.

She said there is no option that has been taken off the table to address the Libyan government’s violence against it’s own people at a House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. 

The Secretary returned Monday from Geneva where she said the United Nations would likely vote to remove Libya from the Human Rights Council later today. The State Department has already revoked visas possessed by members of the regime. The U.S. has frozen the assets and put financial sanctions on members of Qaddafi’s regime. and the UN put an arms embargo on Libya on Saturday.

Clinton dismissed Rep. Steve Chabot’s (R-Ohio) statement that the U.S response to the Libyan conflict was “tepid.” Rep. Chabot cited China as a country that used military equipment to help get its people out of the country and asked why the U.S. hadn’t done the same.

The administration’s response has been prudent, Clinton said, and she didn’t see any evidence that the U.S. lost face in the eyes of the international community. The administration didn’t want to be seen as invading Libya for oil, and she said the “drumbeat” on websites would have characterized the U.S. in that light. 

Clinton also discussed Tunisia and Egypt, saying $150 million has been reappropriated for help in Egypt. The U.S. Agency for International Development is also sending two teams to Tunisia and Egypt to help those fleeing violence. 

Finally, she said that continued U.S. aid around the world was necessary to promote the American “brand.” countering Ron Paul’s (R-Texas) suggestion that the U.S. should swear off all aid for foreign dictators, she defended the U.S. history of aid in Egypt.

“30 years of peace between egypt and Israel, albeit not a warm and fuzzy peace, but nevertheless a peace was an essential element of Israel’s ability to develop and continue to strengthen itself in a very tough neighborhood,” Clinton said. “The fact that we did have those relationship in Egypt made it possible for us to have very frank conversations and prevent what we now see going on in Libya.”