Transcript Of President Obama Statement On Libya

5:35 pm EST February 23rd, 2011 | Foreign Policy | 21 Comments

For Immediate Release

February 23, 2011

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON LIBYA
Grand Foyer

5:07 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Secretary Clinton and I just concluded a meeting that focused on the ongoing situation in Libya. Over the last few days, my national security team has been working around the clock to monitor the situation there and to coordinate with our international partners about a way forward.

First, we are doing everything we can to protect American citizens. That is my highest priority. In Libya, we’ve urged our people to leave the country and the State Department is assisting those in need of support. Meanwhile, I think all Americans should give thanks to the heroic work that’s being done by our foreign service officers and the men and women serving in our embassies and consulates around the world. They represent the very best of our country and its values.

Now, throughout this period of unrest and upheaval across the region the United States has maintained a set of core principles which guide our approach. These principles apply to the situation in Libya. As I said last week, we strongly condemn the use of violence in Libya.

The American people extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all who’ve been killed and injured. The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya. These actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. This violence must stop.

The United States also strongly supports the universal rights of the Libyan people. That includes the rights of peaceful assembly, free speech, and the ability of the Libyan people to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. They are not negotiable. They must be respected in every country. And they cannot be denied through violence or suppression.

In a volatile situation like this one, it is imperative that the nations and peoples of the world speak with one voice, and that has been our focus. Yesterday a unanimous U.N. Security Council sent a clear message that it condemns the violence in Libya, supports accountability for the perpetrators, and stands with the Libyan people.

This same message, by the way, has been delivered by the European Union, the Arab League, the African Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and many individual nations. North and south, east and west, voices are being raised together to oppose suppression and support the rights of the Libyan people.

I’ve also asked my administration to prepare the full range of options that we have to respond to this crisis. This includes those actions we may take and those we will coordinate with our allies and partners, or those that we’ll carry out through multilateral institutions.

Like all governments, the Libyan government has a responsibility to refrain from violence, to allow humanitarian assistance to reach those in need, and to respect the rights of its people. It must be held accountable for its failure to meet those responsibilities, and face the cost of continued violations of human rights.

This is not simply a concern of the United States. The entire world is watching, and we will coordinate our assistance and accountability measures with the international community. To that end, Secretary Clinton and I have asked Bill Burns, our Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, to make several stops in Europe and the region to intensify our consultations with allies and partners about the situation in Libya.

I’ve also asked Secretary Clinton to travel to Geneva on Monday, where a number of foreign ministers will convene for a session of the Human Rights Council. There she’ll hold consultations with her counterparts on events throughout the region and continue to ensure that we join with the international community to speak with one voice to the government and the people of Libya.

And even as we are focused on the urgent situation in Libya, let me just say that our efforts continue to address the events taking place elsewhere, including how the international community can most effectively support the peaceful transition to democracy in both Tunisia and in Egypt.

So let me be clear. The change that is taking place across the region is being driven by the people of the region. This change doesn’t represent the work of the United States or any foreign power. It represents the aspirations of people who are seeking a better life.

As one Libyan said, “We just want to be able to live like human beings.” We just want to be able to live like human beings. It is the most basic of aspirations that is driving this change. And throughout this time of transition, the United States will continue to stand up for freedom, stand up for justice, and stand up for the dignity of all people.

Thank you very much.

Topic: Libya

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21 Responses to “Transcript Of President Obama Statement On Libya”

SaveFarris says:

February 23, 2011 at 8:24 pm

First, we are doing everything we can to protect American citizens. That is my highest priority.

Whew, that’s a relief. Because if there’s one think Obama does well, it’s announce he has a top priority. At least he’s stopped claming he won’t rest until the violence is quelled.
Got My Irish Up says:

February 23, 2011 at 9:36 pm

And not to mention his timing is perfect as always.

So we can be expecting a statement on the murder of four Americans by Somali pirates sometime around next Tuesday, then?
Oliver Willis says:

February 23, 2011 at 9:52 pm

Apparently you guys want a cable news pundit and not a President. Who do you think authorized the rescue operation, genius?
Got My Irish Up says:

February 23, 2011 at 10:21 pm

Oh, it was clearly the President. It says right there the safety of Americans (even dead ones, apparently), is his highest priority, when he gets time off from focusing on the economy, which is also his highest priority, and jobs, another highest priority, cutting the deficit by spending another $1.2 trillion more than he has, yet another highest priority, and interfering in the business of sovereign states like Wisconsin, which appears to be an extremely high priority as well, given the level of involvement of his political organization there.

How he finds time for all these highest priorities after 54 holes of golf every week is, quite frankly, a mystery to me.
Quaker in a Basement says:

February 23, 2011 at 10:41 pm

54 holes of golf every week

Rush tell you that or did you make it up?
Felix Helix says:

February 23, 2011 at 11:04 pm

…interfering in the business of sovereign states like Wisconsin…

I seem to recall presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson interfering in the business of some other states, a while back. Tends to happen, when the governors of those states start taking away the rights of their citizens.

Also too: Wisconsin is not a sovereign state. Check the third sentence. Also, check out the “U” in “U.S.”
Felix Helix says:

February 23, 2011 at 11:08 pm

All Irish whinging aside, that was a good statement. The last two paragraphs in particular are an important distinction for him to have articulated — and a most welcome relief from the swaggering rhetoric of Dubya.
isms says:

February 23, 2011 at 11:50 pm

Irish – Not sure why you think that it’s beyond reasonable for the President to have more than one top priority. I know that in my own small life, I have many top priorities that I juggle everyday.
Wilbur says:

February 23, 2011 at 11:52 pm

SaveFarris says:

Unnnhhhhhggggarrgghh!

UpMyIrishGit says:

Frackuh Frackuh Frackuh Waaaaaaaah!

Obama Derangement Syndrome is not pretty.
Rheinhard says:

February 24, 2011 at 12:00 am

<shorter trolls>
If that damned Negro usurper were a real man, we’d be bombing somebody by now!!
</shorter trolls>
Wilbur says:

February 24, 2011 at 12:03 am

“Shorter trolls” cracks me up.
LongHairedWeirdo says:

February 24, 2011 at 12:48 am

Because if there’s one think Obama does well, it’s announce he has a top priority.

What a cool link! Hey, everyone, remember when a private corporation fucked up and Republicans blamed Obama because there was oil being spilled? His “reaction” to the spill, and his “actions after the spill” were all terrible because, well… well, because there was a *spill*. And he was *President*. And it was Obama’s Katrina! Because, seriously, an oil rig blowing up unexpectedly[1] is just like a hurricane that has days of warning, and staying on vacation while people need help and aren’t getting it is just like having to wait while BP finally figures out a way to stop the spill!

[1] Technically, the spill was foreseeable as an event, but the timing couldn’t be predicted.
jrfunkenstein says:

February 24, 2011 at 12:51 am

‘Oh, it was clearly the President. It says right there the safety of Americans (even dead ones, apparently)’

So you prefer it when tens of thousands of U.S. troops are killed and maimed needlessly, rather than 4 Americans sailing into the most dangerous waterway in the world armed with a Bible?
Got My Irish Up says:

February 24, 2011 at 8:36 am

So you prefer it when tens of thousands of U.S. troops are killed and maimed needlessly, rather than 4 Americans sailing into the most dangerous waterway in the world armed with a Bible?

Armed with a Bible? Interesting choice of words, bigot. Tell me, jr, if a guy who straps a bomb a round his waist and blows himself up in a Tel Aviv pizza joint is a “martyr,” then what wuld you call these four Americans who sailed into harm’s way to spread the word of Christ and earned themselves a bullet in the head?

No there are two things I’d prefer.

1. A President, black, white, yellow, red or polka-dotted, whose actions matched his rhetoric (although on second thought, the weakness of his rhetoric and the manner in which he’s kowtowed to almost every other world leader save our true greatest ally Great Britain does give me pause to consider);

2. A President, black, white, yellow, red or polka-dotted, who could just once get ahead of the curve of world events rather than consistently trailing them.

And QOTB, here’s your link.
Enlightened Liberal says:

February 24, 2011 at 8:43 am

Can’t you just imagine “got your irish up” in a wife-beater t-shirt with his gut sticking out, sitting at his computer in a basement apartment somewhere?

Better yet, don’t.
LongHairedWeirdo says:

February 24, 2011 at 12:33 pm

Can’t you just imagine “got your irish up” in a wife-beater t-shirt with his gut sticking out, sitting at his computer in a basement apartment somewhere?

I kinda picture GYIU as posting inane right-wing talking points to blogs and thinking he’s clever.

Did you notice the points he raised? Obama should just “get ahead of the curve of world events”. No mention of *how*. You’re supposed to just think “Yeah. Yeah! Obama should get ahead of the curve of world events!”

Obama’s “actions should match his rhetoric” – because, you know, Obama said that he’d create a peaceful transition of power in Libya – no, wait, he didn’t say that, he said that he’d, um, that he’d make Mubarak leave office without diddling around… no, wait, he didn’t say that, um, he said… um…. well, he said *something*! And what has he done that Republicans ain’t raggin’ on him for? NOTHING!

Seriously – wife-beater t-shirt, gut sticking out, sitting in a basement apartment’s got nothing on “posting dumbass talking points.”
Quaker in a Basement says:

February 24, 2011 at 1:23 pm

And QOTB, here’s your link.

Made up, then? Carry on.
Sean D. Martin says:

February 24, 2011 at 4:53 pm

Got My Irish Up: Tell me, jr, if a guy who straps a bomb a round his waist and blows himself up in a Tel Aviv pizza joint is a “martyr,” then what wuld you call these four Americans who sailed into harm’s way to spread the word of Christ and earned themselves a bullet in the head?

Well, first, your base proposition is wrong (“If a guy who straps a bomb to himself is a martyr…”? He isn’t. He’s a murderer.) so the rest is bullshit.

Second, you think they “earned” themselves a bullet? Harsh.
Sean D. Martin says:

February 24, 2011 at 4:55 pm

Enlightened Lib: Can’t you just imagine “got your irish up” in a wife-beater t-shirt with his gut sticking out, sitting at his computer in a basement apartment somewhere?

Looks like this?
timmy says:

February 24, 2011 at 5:32 pm

How come you wingnuts never tell us what “Reagan woulda done”… what “Dubya woulda done”… stuff like that?
The great moral structure of the world « vulgar morality says:

March 6, 2011 at 9:23 pm

[...] is not a new rhetorical device. In earlier remarks on Libya, the president made this sweeping generalization: Like all governments, the Libyan government has a [...]