regional leadership. but our support must also extend to nations where transitions have yet to take place. unfortunately, in too many countries, calls for change have thus far been answered by violence. the most extreme example is libya where moammar gadhafi launched a war against his own people, promising to hunt them down like rats. as i said when the united states joined an international coalition to intervene, we cannot prevent every injustice perpetrated by a regime against its people, and we have learned from our experience in iraq just how costly and difficult it is to try to impose regime change by force, no matter how well intentioned it may be. but in libya, we saw the prospect of imminent massacre. we had a mandate for action and