WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Over the weekend, Obama admitted in an interview his biggest misstep as president was failing to plan for the aftermath of the NATO-led intervention in Libya.
"The president will not hesitate to order military action where necessary even in Libya, if it's necessary to take that action or to protect the American people and our allies," Earnest stated.
He noted that US military activity in Libya will be responsive to the threat the United States faces there.
"[T]hat's why the president has ordered military action that in one case took out the senior ISIL [Islamic State] official in Libya, in another case took out a number of ISIL targets that had emerged in Libya."
The Obama administration has been considering expanding its campaign against the Daesh into Libya amid the terrorist group’s rise in the country. In February, US jets struck an Daesh training camp in Libya near the Tunisian border.
Libya has been in a state of turmoil since the 2011, when Western-backed Islamic extremists overthrew the country’s leader Muammar Gaddafi. The instability also triggered the rise of numerous Islamic militant and terrorist groups, particularly the Daesh, which has been carrying out attacks on Libya’s oil and other infrastructure.