Those words were spoken to Nicholas Kristof by Sufian al-Gariani, a 21-year-old salesman who offered the journalist a lift in Tripoli. It is one of a number of similar expressions offered him by Libyans that he describes in a column titled with the most common expression, "Thank You, America!"
Many of those reading these words opposed American and NATO involvement in Libya. Like Kristof, I did not, especially in light of the immediate threat to Benghazi at the time the intervention began. Some did so on financial grounds, arguing our own needs were too great. To that Kristof offers in response the words of another Libyan, Belgassim Ali, a petroleum engineer:
“Your money, we will give it back. We are a rich country.” He added that without American military backing, vast numbers of Libyans would have been massacred — that should count for something, he pleaded.
Kristof focuses on the American portion of the intervention, and the Libyan response to America. I am well aware that the person pushing strongest for intervention was President Sarkozy of France, through NATO. Yet I think it fair to say that meaningful intervention was not possible without American involvement, both given our greater reach with airpower and our logistical and intelligence strength, and that absent a commitment from President Obama it would not have happened in a timely matter. That the response of ordinary Libyans is now so positive is a plus, and not merely because of the mineral wealth of the nation. And to be fair, as Kristof notes of the current appreciation of America,
It’s coupled with huge appreciation for other foreign supporters such as Qatar, Tunisia, France and Britain.
I am also aware that some are critical of actions that have already occurred in Libya, eg, the hostility towards Blacks that has been reported, and of what some of the future outcomes might be - tribal warfare, a rise of militant Islam. Kristof acknowledges it has not all been perfect.
Yet none of this should undercut what has been accomplished, even as Libya does not necessarily serve as a guide for how we as a nation should react to other situations, most notably that in Syria. Kristof acknowledges that we do not yet know the final outcome in Libya, that we cannot avert every atrocity, that nation-building abroad is not always possible or desirable. He closes by telling Libya reminds us that military intervention on humanitarian grounds sometimes does make sense:
This was an exceptional case where we had international and local backing. The big difference with Syria and Yemen is that Libyans overwhelmingly favored our multilateral military intervention, while Syrians and Yemenis mostly don’t.
The question of humanitarian intervention is one of the knottiest in foreign policy, and it will arise again. The next time it does, let’s remember a lesson of Libya: It is better to inconsistently save some lives than to consistently save none.
That might seem like a logical place to end. For me it is not. Let me explain.
I have been a strong critic of this administration on a number of grounds, most notably its educational policy which directly affect me, but also its approach to human rights, its failure to hold accountable people in the CIA or the financial community for wrongdoing that either besmirched our nation or jeopardized its financial stability.
I think it important to give credit when the administration does something well. Thus i complimented it on its ability to hold close the mission against Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, so that it did not leak.
On this, let me again turn to words of Kristof, from earlier in the piece:
President Obama took a huge political risk, averted a massacre and helped topple an odious regime.
When a President takes such a risk because he thinks it right, we should acknowledge that. Had this effort failed, had it backfired, his political opponents would hammer him with it.
The final outcome is still not known. Some will continue to blame the President regardless of how it turns out - he should have done this, he should not have done that. Perhaps it will be appropriate to have those discussions in the future.
And perhaps the relatively low level of vengeance or of looting will not be sustained, and we might yet see a degeneration of the situation on the ground.
Perhaps.
For now, as the Libyans celebrate being liberated from tyranny, as life begins to return to normal in Tripoli and elsewhere in the country, as an American journalist can travel freely being welcomed and thanked by ordinary Libyans, it is appropriate to recognize the gratitude about which Kristof writes:
"Thank you, America!"
“Thank you, Americans. Thank you, President Obama.”