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Argument: US has interest in enforcing UN resolution 1974

Issue Report: US and NATO intervention in Libya

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Obama Administration letter to Congress justifying Libya engagement, June 15, 2011: “Further, the longstanding U.S. commitment to maintaining the credibility of the United Nations Security Council and the effectiveness of its actions to promote international peace and security was at stake in Libya once the Council took action to impose a no-fly zone and to authorize all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack, particularly after Qadhafi’s forces ignored the UNSC’s call for a cease fire and for the cessation of attacks on civilians. As President Obama noted in his March 28 speech, without military action to stop Qadhafi’s repression, ‘[t]he writ of the United Nations Security Council would have been shown to be little more than empty words, crippling that institution’s future credibility to uphold global peace and security.'”