Even After Imposing Regime Change, US Keeps Emergency Measures in Place

President Obama has issued another statement today reiterating his decision that the nation of Libya “poses an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

The statement was an extension of the “emergency” situation the Obama Administration has imposed on Libya since February 2011. Today’s statement extends this emergency for yet another year.

The emergency was initially put into place in response to the Libyan civil war, which ended later in 2011 with a NATO-imposed regime change. Even after installing a pro-NATO government almost a year and a half ago, the “emergency” endures.

This is perhaps unsurprising with the US still reeling from the 9/11 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, which killed the American ambassador. Yet the idea that this is an “unusual” threat seems harder and harder to justify with Libya looking to be a long-term trainwreck in the wake of the civil war.