Barack Obama opened up to Chris Wallace on Fox about what he thinks his worst mistake was as President:
“Probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya,” Obama told Wallace during his first appearance on “Fox News Sunday” as president.
There are a couple of things that make this an interesting statement. First, the former Secretary of State's involvement in Libya policy is fairly well documented, all the way down to her, "We came, we saw, he died," comment about Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi in which she effusively praises the merits of so-called 'Smart Power' in a sort of victory lap that was obviously far too premature. Second, the words of former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who would also have been a significant voice in the Libya decision, who said Clinton's approach for Libya was, "playing it by ear."
Parts of Libya are now controlled by the Islamic State and Boko Haram. Many of Qaddafi's weapons ended up in their hands. The country itself is a near failed state that has two factions both claiming to be the acting government.
This is what we mean when we talk about Hillary Clinton's experience. It’s not about what she’s been, it’s about what she’s done. And it’s time to ask Hillary Clinton if she agrees with Barack Obama on this, or whether she still thinks, as she said in one of the Democratic debates last Fall, that it was, “Smart power at its best.”