The leader of Lybia, a country in north Africa has been Gadhafi for many years. He's going down. For 30 years or more he has ruled by trickery and violence. But today his seat of power is no longer his. Rebels what he controlled. The Rebels are citizens of Lybia, not an invading force, not NATA troops or American soldiers, but Lybian citizens. And their victory was hard won and many of them died.
America figured large in the Lybian war because America has weapons of war that few, if any countries can equal. Cruise missiles were launched from American warships, hundreds of miles from pre-programmed targets. Command and Control Communications and Radar installations are the first targets of war. Cruise missiles take these out. How, you might ask, can a 10 foot long, missile that 3 men can lift and carry, go 100s of miles and blow up a specific thing? Well, that's the black magic of American war tools.
But the point I'm making is that America did not win the Lybia war. NATO backed the Lybian Rebels because America refused to repeat its Iraq mistake. In Iraq, America led the war, supported by some other countries. In Lybia, America refused this role and handed the leading support role over to NATO. And then supported NATO>
Did America make a mistake in Iraq, learn from it, and apply that in Lybia? I would like to think so.