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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Whether it was worth doing in the first place is debatable and how it will end remains to be seen. But it looks as if the Obama administration is scoring a victory in Libya. A brutal tyrant has been overthrown; the heavy use of air power, including drones, was highly effective; a broad, international coalition remained united; and there was no loss of American lives. Perhaps “leading from behind” is not an oxymoron after all.

Those words were uttered by an unnamed adviser to President Obama in April to describe Washington’s cautious, back-seat approach to Libya. According to Ryan Lizza in the New Yorker, the term represents “a different definition of leadership than America is known for,” and it reflects the...