--- title: President Obama's Libya Speech in 3 Minutes | TIME description: A mashup of President Obama's speech on Libya, delivered on March 28, 2011 at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. canonical: https://time.com/video/YOBe0hVG/ og:title: President Obama's Libya Speech in 3 Minutes og:description: A mashup of President Obama's speech on Libya, delivered on March 28, 2011 at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. og:url: https://time.com/video/YOBe0hVG/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YOBe0hVG/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama's Libya Speech in 3 Minutes twitter:description: A mashup of President Obama's speech on Libya, delivered on March 28, 2011 at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YOBe0hVG/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # President Obama's Libya Speech in 3 Minutes > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: President Obama's Libya Speech in 3 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): President Obama's Libya Speech in 3 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YOBe0hVG.m3u8) (3:04)  _Published 2011-03-29. A mashup of President Obama's speech on Libya, delivered on March 28, 2011 at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C._ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:11 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [President Obama's Victory Speech in 3 Minutes or Less](/video/61Fm4ybJ/) ### President Obama's Victory Speech in 3 Minutes or Less [President Barack Obama's Speech in 3 Minutes](/video/Wn5DAURd/) ### President Barack Obama's Speech in 3 Minutes [President Obama's Libya Speech](/video/4gWJY1lq/) ### President Obama's Libya Speech --- ## Transcript Tonight, I'd like to update the American people on the international effort that we have led in Libya. If we waited one more day, Benghazi, a city nearly the size of Charlotte, could suffer a massacre that would've reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world. It was not in our national interest to let that happen. I said that America's role would be limited, that we would not put ground troops into Libya and that we would transfer responsibility to our allies and partners. This transfer from the United States to NATO will take place on Wednesday. Despite the success of our efforts over the past week, I know that some Americans continue to have questions about our efforts in Libya. Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as President, I refuse to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action. Moreover, America has an important strategic interest in preventing Gaddafi from overrunning those who oppose him. The democratic impulses that are dawning across the region would be eclipsed by the darkest form of dictatorship, as repressive leaders concluded that violence is the best strategy to cling to power. I am convinced that a failure to act in Libya would have carried a far greater price for America. There is no question that Libya and the world would be better off with Gaddafi out of power. I, along with many other world leaders, have embraced that goal, and will actively pursue it through non- military means. If we tried to overthrow Gaddafi by force, our coalition would splinter. We would likely have to put U. S. troops on the ground to accomplish that mission. To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq. Regime change there took 8 years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives, and nearly a trillion dollars. That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya. I've made it clear that I will never hesitate to use our military swiftly, decisively, and unilaterally when necessary to defend our people, our homeland, our allies and our core interests. There will be times, though, when our safety is not directly threatened, but our interests and our values are. In such cases, we should not be afraid to act; to work with allies and partners so that they bear their share of the burden and pay their share of the costs; and to see that the principles of justice and human dignity are upheld by all. Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. 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