...privately, he calls Libya a “shit show,” in part because it’s subsequently become an ISIS haven—one that he has already targeted with air strikes. It became a shit show, Obama believes, for reasons that had less to do with American incompetence than with the passivity of America’s allies and with the obdurate power of tribalism.
"Passivity of America's allies"? Why is that the lesson? He just said everything went according to plan, they got a UN mandate for multilateral action, they acted. Why isn't the lesson, "Avoid the shit puddles of 'problems,' of 'national interests' that aren't even 'core interests'?"