Qaddafi had given up his nuclear program and posed no threat to U.S. interests. There is no question he was a loathsome and vicious dictator, but the total collapse of his government opened the way for more than 20,000 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles and countless other weapons from his arsenals to find their way across both Africa and the Middle East, sparked a civil war, opened the door to the rise of ISIL in Libya, and created the opportunity for Russia to claim a role in determining Libya’s future. The country remains a dangerous shambles. As in Somalia, Haiti, Iraq, and
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