The United States intervened militarily in Libya partly because the turmoil there could threaten recent democratic revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday. After criticism from US lawmakers who feel Congress should have been consulted, Gates acknowledged that Libya did not pose an "actual or imminent threat" to the United States.
"It was not - it was not a vital national interest to the United States, but it was an interest," he said in a joint appearance with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on ABC's "This Week" program.
"There was another piece of this though, that certainly was a consideration. You've had revolutions on both the east and the west of Libya," he said, noting that refugees fleeing Libya could overwhelm Tunisia and Egypt.
"So you had a potentially significantly destabilising event taking place in Libya that put at risk potentially the revolutions in both Tunisia and Egypt," Gates said, adding: "Egypt is central to the future of the Middle East."
US President Barack Obama has come under fire for taking military action against Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's forces without approval from Congress, which has the sole authority under the US Constitution to declare war.
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