GOP field reluctant to credit Obama in Gadhafi killing

The Republican presidential field avoided offering any praise for President Obama after Col. Moammar Gadhafi was killed in Libya.

Mitt Romney, the current Republican front-runner, took a sharp tone, telling reporters it was “about time” Gadhafi was killed.

“Gadhafi [was a] terrible tyrant that killed his own people and murdered Americans and others in the tragedy in Lockerbie,” Romney said, referring to the 1988 bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103. “The world is a better place with Gadhafi gone.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry also did not mention Obama in a statement released by his campaign, while urging the administration to “take an active role in ensuring the security of any remaining stockpiles of Gadhafi's weapons.”

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum had perhaps the sharpest take, explicitly saying the president should not be credited for the killing.

“Ridding the world of the likes of Gadhafi is a good thing,” Santorum said. “But this indecisive president had little to do with this triumph.”

Jon Huntsman, a former ambassador in the Obama administration, made a point of opposing American efforts in Libya at the start of his campaign as a way of breaking with the president. He said in a statement Thursday that the killing did not change his opinion on U.S. involvement.

“I remain firm in my belief that America can best serve our interests and that transition through non-military assistance and rebuilding our own economic core here at home,” Huntsman said.

Michele Bachmann, who had argued against the intervention and repeatedly said that the president was too deferential in Libyan operations, echoed her criticism in her statement.

“I opposed U.S. military involvement in Libya and I am hopeful that our intervention there is about to end,” Bachmann said.

Obama on Thursday hailed Gadhafi’s death and said the U.S. mission would soon come to a close.

Neither Ron Paul nor Herman Cain had yet released statements, although Paul has been a vehement critic of American intervention in the region. Paul argues that while Gadhafi was a “bad guy,” America should not be tasked with — and could not afford to — rid the world of all dictators.

Cain had previously criticized Obama for not developing a “clear” strategy or set of objectives in Libya.

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