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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA year later, Libya is still a mess
A year later, Libya is still a mess
After the West's much-ballyhood intervention, Libya is dominated by a complex tangle of violent militias and the chaos is spilling into neighboring countries
POSTED ON MARCH 21, 2012, AT 6:25 PM
One year after the U.S., Britain, and France began their war in Libya, the harmful consequences of Western intervention are readily apparent. The internal disorder and regional instability that the West's assault created were foreseen by many critics. And yet, Western governments made no meaningful efforts to prepare for them. No one planned to stabilize Libya once Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown, and the National Transitional Council (NTC) rejected the idea of an outside stabilization force, which has left Libya at serious risk of fragmentation and renewed conflict. Intervention "on the cheap" may be more politically palatable in the West because of the low cost to Western nations, but it can still be quite destructive for the countries affected by it.
. . .
But the Libyan war's worst impact may have occurred outside of Libya. The neighboring country of Mali, which also happens to support U.S. counter-terrorist efforts in western Africa, has been roiled by a new Tuareg insurgency fueled by the influx of men and weapons after Gadhafi's defeat, providing the Tuareg rebels with much more sophisticated weaponry than they had before. This new upheaval benefits al Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM), and the Tuareg uprising threatens the territorial integrity of Mali. The rebellion has also displaced nearly 200,000 civilians in a region that is already at risk of famine, and refugees from Mali are beginning to strain local resources in Niger, where most of them have fled. "Success" in Libya is creating a political and humanitarian disaster in Mali and Niger.
Paradoxically, the Libyan war and its aftermath have had the unintended consequence of undermining the doctrine of "responsibility to protect" (R2P) that was originally used to justify the intervention. Many advocates of intervention believed Western involvement would strengthen the norm that sovereignty may be limited to protect a civilian population from large-scale loss of life. Instead, the Libyan intervention helped discredit that idea.
A key requirement of the "responsibility to protect" is that intervening governments assume the "responsibility to rebuild" in the wake of military action, but this was a responsibility that the intervening governments never wanted and haven't accepted. All of this has proven to skeptical governments, including emerging democratic powers such as Brazil and India, that the doctrine can and will be abused to legitimize military intervention while ignoring its other requirements. The Libyan experience has soured many major governments around the world on R2P, and without their support in the future, it will become little more than a façade for the preferred policies of Western governments.
http://theweek.com/bullpen/column/225833/a-year-later-libya-is-still-a-mess
KG
(28,753 posts)TomClash
(11,344 posts)They lusted for war and now they are gone.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)when a republican is on office. You should know that by now.
Amonester
(11,541 posts)We'll see.
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)1. The author, Daniel Larison, is not Libyan. 2. Do I give any credence to what a guy in Chicago feels about the situation in Libya? No. If I want to learn about the the situation in Libya, I will listen to those who live there now, and under Gaddafi.
Larison seems to be concerned as well with Russia losing influence in Syria. Hardly an objective observer.
"Daniel Larison is a Ph.D. graduate from the University of Chicago, where he recently completed his dissertation on the sixth ecumenical council and the monothelete controversy. A convert to Orthodox Christianity since 2003, he serves as a reader at a local Russian Orthodox parish in the Chicago area. He is contributing editor at The American Conservative and writes a column for The Week online. His work has also appeared in The Dallas Morning News, The New Pantagruel and at Takimag.com. He writes on the blog Eunomia."
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)that Libya is not a mess in the hands of militias, that torture is systemic there and that it is exporting weapons all over the region?
I'd like to see that.
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)and in many other years after the war of independence
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)and the sale of its resources wasn't taking precedence over the welfare of the populace.
Swamp Lover
(431 posts)Wasted on those who will not hear.
Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)What the hell is taking them? The Gahdaffi regime was ended months ago.
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)Libya ruler speaks out against militia power
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) The head of Libya's interim government said Sunday that militias should not control government buildings or institutions, speaking on a day that clashes between a powerful militia and Tripoli residents killed at least one person.
Mustafa Abdul-Jalil told The Associated Press that the country's many militias must be disarmed and said his government does not want them in control of state facilities.
His plea could not be backed up by action. The central government in Libya has proved incapable of governing or protecting the country's vital institutions since the capture and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in October.
With the collapse of central authority in Libya, militias and tribes have been acting on their own, exacting revenge on foes and enforcing security in their areas with little coordination or accountability to the Tripoli government.
Associated PressBy RAMI AL-SHAHEIBI | Associated Press Sun, Mar 18, 2012
http://news.yahoo.com/libya-ruler-speaks-against-militia-power-202142800.html
What's the matter with this guy? Why won't he give the revolution a chance?