It wasn't Europe that beat the regime

The victory over the Gaddafi regime was anything but a European success story, the left-liberal daily Le Monde writes: "A twofold lesson can be learned from the Libya conflict: First, the operation carried out in Libya cannot be transposed. It was the product of a set of very specific circumstances. ... Secondly, the intervention was not a pan-European success. The political initiative was taken by the Elysée Palace and Downing Street, not the European Union. ... History will retain that Muammar al-Gaddafi's regime fell under the blows of the Libyan rebels in a victory they no doubt would not have achieved without the support of a heterogeneous coalition with four pillars: the US, France, the UK and Qatar, which supplied financial, political and military support. The last thing that looks like is a success for Europe."

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