proved `` once more that the rule of an iron fist inevitably comes to an end . '' `` Across the Arab world , citizens have stood up to claim their rights , '' the president said . `` Youth are delivering a powerful rebuke to dictatorship , and those leaders who try to deny human dignity will not succeed . '' His statement , delivered in the White House Rose Garden , followed hours of silence by top government officials as initial reports that Gadhafi had been captured or killed emerged from Libya . It was a very different scene hours later outside the White House , as dozens of people waved and wrapped themselves in the Libyan flag while cheering Gadhafi 's death . Many sang to the beat of a drum Thursday evening , while one celebrant held a hand-drawn sign showing a newborn baby drawn over the outline of Libya -- symbolizing a country reborn . Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Afghanistan when she said `` Wow '' after an aide handed her a Blackberry that spoke of Gadhafi 's capture . At the time , she stressed the reports were `` unconfirmed ''
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- As Libyans in the United States cheered the death of Moammar Gadhafi , President Barack Obama on Thursday called the fate of the former Libyan leader both the end of a `` long and painful chapter for the people of Libya '' and the hallmark of a successful U.S. foreign policy . In the first official government remarks on the killing of a longtime foe who was behind terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens , Obama pledged American support as Libya builds a democratic system from the ruins of dictatorship . `` You have won your revolution , '' he said to the Libyan people . Obama also praised the efforts of U.S. military personnel who took part in the NATO-led military mission that launched thousands of airstrikes in support of Libya 's rebel forces . `` Without putting a single U.S. service member on the ground , we achieved our objectives , '' Obama said in heralding a strategy that `` demonstrated what collective action can achieve in the 21st century . '' In an obvious reference to Syria and the crackdown on dissent by President Bashar al-Assad , Obama noted that Gadhafi 's death