GOP Rep: Libyan people, not Obama, deserve credit for Gadhafi's demise

President Obama was in no way responsible for the demise of Libya's former dictator Moammar Gadhafi, conservative lawmaker Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) said at the Western Republican Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, as reported by the liberal blog ThinkProgress on Monday.

In the exchange, which was captured on video, a writer for the blog asked Heck if he thought Obama "deserves credit for Colonel Qaddafi’s death."

"No," replied Heck. "The people who deserve credit are the folks that have fueled that uprising and that have come up against … from the groundswell of folks that decided they no longer wanted to live under oppression."

Heck, who voted for a House resolution in the summer to scold the Obama administration for failing to seek congressional authority under the War Powers Act for military operations there, insisted in the interview that Gadhafi’s death did not mean the U.S.’s participation in the NATO air campaign was justified.

“Does the end justify the means?” asked Heck. “While it was a great day that this may have occurred and while there’s one less tyrant, the fact is I still believe that we had no reason from a national security perspective to go and get involved in Libya to begin with."

Many in the Republican Party have hailed the demise of the corrupt North African leader. Others, including Mitt Romney, the top contender for the GOP presidential nomination, and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) have even complimented Obama for doggedly pursuing the campaign.

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