Actually it was a NATO intervention and Libya has been engaged in conflict with Europe since Hannibal the Carthaginian battled Rome.

The USA is a latecomer since the Barbary War with the pirates of Tripoli (1801-1805).

Muammar Gaddafi was just a bit player and the new guys are just as bad it seems. If they just kept their murderous ways to themselves no one would get involved.

Libyan oil is a European "strategic" interest BTW.