Editing Libya (section)

=== First Libyan Civil War and the fall of Gaddafi (2011) ===
{{Main|First Libyan Civil War|2011 military intervention in Libya}}
[[File:Ambassador Cretz Stands by Fist Crushing a U.S. Fighter Plane Sculpture.jpg|thumb|[[List of ambassadors of the United States to Libya|U.S. Ambassador]] [[Gene A. Cretz|Cretz]] Stands by Fist Crushing a US Fighter Plane Sculpture which was captured after the [[2011 Battle of Tripoli|fall of Tripoli]]]]
The first civil war came during the [[Arab Spring]] movements which overturned the rulers of [[Tunisia]] and [[Egypt]]. Libya first experienced protests against Gaddafi's regime on 15 February 2011, with a full-scale revolt beginning on [[Revolution Day|17 February]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/17/live-blog-libya |title=Live Blog – Libya |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=17 February 2011 |access-date=23 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223072304/http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/17/live-blog-libya |archive-date=23 February 2011  }}</ref> Libya's authoritarian regime led by Muammar Gaddafi put up much more of a resistance compared to the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia. While overthrowing the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia was a relatively quick process, Gaddafi's campaign posed significant stalls on the uprising in Libya.<ref name=":15">{{Cite book|url=http://oskicat.berkeley.edu/record=b18588098~S1|title=The Arab awakening: America and the transformation of the Middle East|date=1 January 2011|publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=9780815722267|editor-last=Pollack|editor-first=Kenneth M.|location=Washington, DC|access-date=20 November 2016|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415005825/http://oskicat.berkeley.edu/record=b18588098~S1|url-status=live}}</ref> The first announcement of a competing political authority appeared online and declared the [[Interim Transitional National Council]] as an alternative government. One of Gaddafi's senior advisors responded by posting a tweet, wherein he resigned, defected, and advised Gaddafi to flee.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|title=Democracy's Fourth Wave?: Digital Media and the Arab Spring|last=Hussain1 Howard2|first=Muzammil M.1Philip N.2|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-993697-7|location=New York|page=23}}</ref> By 20 February, the unrest had spread to Tripoli. On 27 February 2011, the [[National Transitional Council]] was established to administer the areas of Libya under rebel control. On 10 March 2011, the United States and many other nations recognised the council headed by [[Mahmoud Jibril]] as acting prime minister and as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people and withdrawing the recognition of Gaddafi's regime.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://ntclibya.com/InnerPage.aspx?SSID=6&ParentID=3&LangID=1 | title =The Council"International Recognition | publisher =National Transitional Council (Libya) | date =1 March 2011 | access-date =23 October 2011 | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110926043358/http://www.ntclibya.com/InnerPage.aspx?SSID=6&ParentID=3&LangID=1 | archive-date =26 September 2011 | df =dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12699183 |title=Libya: France recognises rebels as government |work=BBC News |date=10 March 2011 |access-date=23 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023041256/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12699183 |archive-date=23 October 2011  }}</ref>
[[File:Green square protests in Tripoli, Libya.jpg|thumb|A protest against the anti-Gaddafi supporters in Tripoli]]
Pro-Gaddafi forces were able to respond militarily to rebel pushes in [[Tripolitania|Western Libya]] and launched a counterattack along the coast toward Benghazi, the ''de facto'' centre of the uprising.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/world/africa/10libya.html |title=Qaddafi Forces Batter Rebels in Strategic Refinery Town |work=The New York Times |date=9 March 2011 |access-date=9 March 2011 |first1=Kareem |last1=Fahim |first2=David D. |last2=Kirkpatrick |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506221756/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/world/africa/10libya.html |archive-date=6 May 2011  }}</ref> The town of [[Zawiya, Libya|Zawiya]], {{convert|48|km}} from Tripoli, was bombarded by [[Libyan Air Force (1951–2011)|air force planes]] and army tanks and seized by [[Armed Forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya|Jamahiriya troops]], "exercising a level of brutality not yet seen in the conflict."<ref>The Independent, 9 March 2011 P.4</ref> Organizations of the United Nations, including [[United Nations Secretary General]] [[Ban Ki-moon]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Ban-Ki-moon-blasts-Gaddafi-calls-situation-dangerous/Article1-666108.aspx |title=Ban Ki-moon blasts Gaddafi; calls situation dangerous |work=Hindustan Times |location=New Delhi |date=24 February 2011 |access-date=26 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227021434/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Ban-Ki-moon-blasts-Gaddafi-calls-situation-dangerous/Article1-666108.aspx |archive-date=27 February 2011  }}</ref> and the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]], condemned the crackdown as violating international law, with the latter body expelling Libya outright in an unprecedented action.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-libya-20110226,0,6927383.story |title=Some backbone at the U.N. |work=Los Angeles Times |date=26 February 2011 |access-date=26 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303053657/http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-libya-20110226,0,6927383.story |archive-date=3 March 2011  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=125800 |agency=Sofia News Agency |title=Libya Expelled from UN Human Rights Council |date=2 March 2011 |access-date=2 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511093052/http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=125800 |archive-date=11 May 2011  }}</ref> On 17 March 2011 the UN Security Council passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973|Resolution 1973]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/28/hillary-clinton-undercut-on-libya-war-by-pentagon-/print/ |title=Exclusive: Secret tapes undermine Hillary Clinton on Libyan war |author=Jeffrey Scott Shapiro |author2=Kelly Riddell |work=The Washington Times |date=28 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217010203/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/28/hillary-clinton-undercut-on-libya-war-by-pentagon-/print/ |archive-date=17 February 2015  }}</ref> with a 10–0 vote and five abstentions including Russia, China, India, Brazil and Germany. The resolution sanctioned the establishment of a [[no-fly zone]] and the use of "all means necessary" to protect civilians within Libya.<ref>{{cite press release |url= https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37808 |title= Security Council authorizes 'all necessary measures' to protect civilians in Libya |publisher= United Nations |date= 17 March 2011 |access-date= 30 March 2011 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110503184921/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37808 |archive-date= 3 May 2011 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> On 19 March, the first act of NATO allies to secure the no-fly zone began by destroying Libyan air defenses when French military jets entered Libyan airspace on a [[reconnaissance]] mission heralding attacks on enemy targets.<ref name="libyrate1">{{cite news |author=Marcus, Jonathan |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12795971 |title=French military jets open fire in Libya |work=BBC News |date=19 March 2011 |access-date=20 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320125209/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12795971 |archive-date=20 March 2011  }}</ref>

In the weeks that followed, US American forces were in the forefront of NATO operations against Libya. More than 8,000 US personnel in warships and aircraft were deployed in the area. At least 3,000 targets were struck in 14,202 strike sorties, 716 of them in Tripoli and 492 in [[Brega]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/may/22/nato-libya-data-journalism-operations-country/ |title=NATO operations in Libya |publisher=The Guardian, London, 22 May 2011 |access-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624233946/http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/may/22/nato-libya-data-journalism-operations-country |archive-date=24 June 2014  |date=22 May 2011 }}</ref> The US air offensive included flights of B-2 Stealth bombers, each bomber armed with sixteen 2000-pound bombs, flying out of and returning to their base in Missouri in the continental United States.<ref>Tirpak, John {{cite web |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/magazinearchive/pages/2011/july%202011/0711libya.aspx |title=Bombers Over Libya |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140608065130/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2011/July%202011/0711libya.aspx |archive-date=8 June 2014  }} Air Force Magazine: Journal of the Air Force Association, Vol. 94, No. 7, July 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2014</ref> The support provided by the NATO air forces contributed to the ultimate success of the revolution.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/02/11/the-hidden-story-of-airpower-in-libya-and-what-it-means-for-syria/ |title=The hidden story of airpower in Libya (and what it means for Syria) |magazine=Foreign Policy |date=11 February 2013 |access-date=1 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065752/http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/02/11/the-hidden-story-of-airpower-in-libya-and-what-it-means-for-syria/ |archive-date=4 March 2016  }}</ref> By 22 August 2011, [[National Liberation Army (Libya)|rebel fighters]] had entered Tripoli and occupied [[Martyrs' Square, Tripoli|Green Square]],<ref name="Richburg">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/libyan-rebels-converging-on-tripoli/2011/08/21/gIQAbF3RUJ_story.html |title=Gaddafi's rule crumbling as rebels enter heart of Tripoli |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Keith B. |last=Richburg |date=22 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123234819/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/libyan-rebels-converging-on-tripoli/2011/08/21/gIQAbF3RUJ_story.html |archive-date=23 January 2012  }}</ref> which they renamed Martyrs' Square in honour of those killed since 17 February 2011. On 20 October 2011, the last heavy fighting of the uprising came to an end in the city of [[Sirte]]. The [[Battle of Sirte (2011)|Battle of Sirte]] was both the last decisive battle and the last one in general of the [[First Libyan Civil War]] where Gaddafi was captured and killed by [[NATO]]-backed forces on 20 October 2011. Sirte was the last Gaddafi loyalist stronghold and his place of birth. The defeat of [[loyalist]] forces was celebrated on 23 October 2011, three days after the fall of Sirte. At least 30,000 Libyans died in the civil war.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/9835879 |title=Libyan estimate: At least 30,000 died in the war |author=Laub, Karin |agency=Associated Press |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=8 September 2011 |access-date=25 November 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104210601/http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/9835879 |archive-date=4 November 2013  }}</ref> In addition, the [[National Transitional Council]] estimated 50,000 wounded.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/26/libya-war-saving-lives-catastrophic-failure|title=If the Libyan war was about saving lives, it was a catastrophic failure {{!}} Seumas Milne|last=Milne|first=Seumas|date=26 October 2011|work=The Guardian|access-date=24 November 2017|issn=0261-3077|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201132158/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/26/libya-war-saving-lives-catastrophic-failure|archive-date=1 December 2017}}</ref>