I just finished a briefing paper for my American Foreign Policy class which chronicled the history of U.S. relations with Libya under both King Idris I and now leader Muammar Gadhafi. The paper called for a policy recommendation section at the end which really forced me to look at what the U.S. should do/continue doing. The U.S's past with Gadhafi has been extremely tumultuous, and the more research I did, reading interviews given by Gadhafi himself from the 1980s through 2002, the more I realized what a great opportunity this is for Libya as well as a great opportunity to redeem better relations between the two countries.
After imposing economic sanctions, bombing Tripoli and Benghazi under Reagan and enduring situations like the Libyan bombing of flight Pan Am 103 which killed nearly 200 Americans, the U.S. completely isolated Libya, isolating practices which was later endorsed by UNSC resolutions. The country has gone through a lot and now with the gross human rights violations committed by Gadhafi, this revolution offers great hope for future generations of both Libyans and Americans and their relationship together.
So there is good news and bad news to this situation:
The good news is that the U.S. has played it smart in offering technical assistance, training and air support but has kept their objectives limited without deploying ground troops and on March 30th relinquished the responsibility of leading the international coalition to NATO. The fact that such multi-lateral efforts are being employed on the behalf of the Libyan rebels is very encouraging. A sense of Arab unity over this conflict has swept the region as the Arab League and many individual Arab countries have actively come out in support of the Rebels. Among these main supporters are Egypt, who have supplied arms, and Qatar and the UAE who have both taking leading roles in enforcing the UN sanctioned "no-fly" zone. Just recently Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi, former Libyan prime minister is rumored to be in talks with the UN and the West in order to put an end to air strikes.
Now for the bad news.
Gadhafi has adapted his military tactics now, bringing his strikes to the ground since the "no-fly" zone has made air strikes more difficult. In this way, it is almost as if he is daring the U.S. and UN to send in ground troops, which was rejected as a possibility even before these parties engaged. The struggle between the rebels, who are based out of Benghazi (a city that has undergone heavy bombing of civilians), and Gadhafi military and loyalists is constantly in flux. It is hard to tell who has the upper hand from one day to the next. Unfortunately, despite U.S. efforts to offer support, the Libyan rebels have criticized the U.S. NATO, and the UN for not being active enough in their fight. Just 3 days ago Obama released an Op-Ed with other Western leaders reiterating the objectives of their support but more strongly emphasizing the necessity for Gadhafi to disappear.
So here we are. We are presented with a challenge. My personal feeling is that no ground troops should be deployed because the integrity of the revolution being a Libyan "bottom-up" revolution must be preserved. That being said, I would hope other countries who are a part of the international coalition might step up in more of a leading role as the U.S. is unable to offer that at this time due to involvement in two other costly conflicts. Interests are there, and I'm not just talking about oil. Interests in the people being able to take back their country and instill a democracy that may endure independent from U.S. construction. I think that is the only way democracy can endure. I would urge Israel, who has offered some support to the rebels to continue to support them as not only is it the right thing to do, but it improves Israel's image in the region and may open the door for a future alliance with Libyan leaders who will be decided after this conflict if Gadhafi is ousted.
One things for sure, Gadhafi must go, and the entire international community, the Arab world and Libyan people are in agreement on that.
Now what happens next to ensure this outcome? I wish I knew.
After imposing economic sanctions, bombing Tripoli and Benghazi under Reagan and enduring situations like the Libyan bombing of flight Pan Am 103 which killed nearly 200 Americans, the U.S. completely isolated Libya, isolating practices which was later endorsed by UNSC resolutions. The country has gone through a lot and now with the gross human rights violations committed by Gadhafi, this revolution offers great hope for future generations of both Libyans and Americans and their relationship together.
So there is good news and bad news to this situation:
The good news is that the U.S. has played it smart in offering technical assistance, training and air support but has kept their objectives limited without deploying ground troops and on March 30th relinquished the responsibility of leading the international coalition to NATO. The fact that such multi-lateral efforts are being employed on the behalf of the Libyan rebels is very encouraging. A sense of Arab unity over this conflict has swept the region as the Arab League and many individual Arab countries have actively come out in support of the Rebels. Among these main supporters are Egypt, who have supplied arms, and Qatar and the UAE who have both taking leading roles in enforcing the UN sanctioned "no-fly" zone. Just recently Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi, former Libyan prime minister is rumored to be in talks with the UN and the West in order to put an end to air strikes.
Now for the bad news.
Gadhafi has adapted his military tactics now, bringing his strikes to the ground since the "no-fly" zone has made air strikes more difficult. In this way, it is almost as if he is daring the U.S. and UN to send in ground troops, which was rejected as a possibility even before these parties engaged. The struggle between the rebels, who are based out of Benghazi (a city that has undergone heavy bombing of civilians), and Gadhafi military and loyalists is constantly in flux. It is hard to tell who has the upper hand from one day to the next. Unfortunately, despite U.S. efforts to offer support, the Libyan rebels have criticized the U.S. NATO, and the UN for not being active enough in their fight. Just 3 days ago Obama released an Op-Ed with other Western leaders reiterating the objectives of their support but more strongly emphasizing the necessity for Gadhafi to disappear.
So here we are. We are presented with a challenge. My personal feeling is that no ground troops should be deployed because the integrity of the revolution being a Libyan "bottom-up" revolution must be preserved. That being said, I would hope other countries who are a part of the international coalition might step up in more of a leading role as the U.S. is unable to offer that at this time due to involvement in two other costly conflicts. Interests are there, and I'm not just talking about oil. Interests in the people being able to take back their country and instill a democracy that may endure independent from U.S. construction. I think that is the only way democracy can endure. I would urge Israel, who has offered some support to the rebels to continue to support them as not only is it the right thing to do, but it improves Israel's image in the region and may open the door for a future alliance with Libyan leaders who will be decided after this conflict if Gadhafi is ousted.
One things for sure, Gadhafi must go, and the entire international community, the Arab world and Libyan people are in agreement on that.
Now what happens next to ensure this outcome? I wish I knew.
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