‘The case for intervention to resolve the current crisis in Libya’
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Comment
‘The
case for intervention to resolve the current crisis in Libya’
There are decades when nothing happens
and then there are weeks when decades happen [Vladimir Lenin]
Ø
Tunisian protest which erupted in
December due to unemployment, corruption, and political freedom actually
sparked the fire of anti-government protest in the Middle East bringing the
regime to an end. Since the first popular and
successful protests broke out in Tunisia, it spread towards Egypt, Bahrain,
Libya and many other countries demanding the regime down. In Egypt thirty years
reign of Hosni Mubarak was overturned by the eighteen days protest. Soon after,
the protest began in Libya, demanding the end of Gaddafi’s 42-year rule which
rest upon the widespread political repression and human rights abuses. The
peoples were also unsatisfied with his economic management as the unemployment
rate was high (Aljazeera, 2011). So, the growing protest in the Middle East
shows the demise of the autocratic regime in Middle East or Arab world due to
the popular protest. Thus, many factors like unemployment, decades of corrupt
and authoritarian rule, increasingly literate and digitally-connected societies
played a vital role in the ongoing protest vis-a-vis revolution in the Middle
East (BBC, 2011).
Ø Libya's
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi rules Libya since 1969. He is frequently criticized as
a military dictator, accusing him of
repressing civil society and ruthlessly crushing protesters. The
ongoing uprising with the arrest of human right campaigners and the
interference of international community poses the most serious challenge to his
rule. The protesters are marching against his rule but the authority has used
all the means to suppress the protest. On the one hand, Gaddafi has been
considered as a mad dog on the other hand he has
been regarded as inspiring fellow despots to other dictators to suppress any
forms of protest brutally and escaping the fate of Ben Ali and Mubarak
(Aljazeera, 2011). The UN Security
Council voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Gaddafi's Libyan regime for
its attempts to put down an uprising. Similarly, UN Security
Council declared a no-fly zone over Libya and air strikes to protect civilians
from Gaddafi regime. In the scenario of declaring
no-fly zone Gaddafi’s government hastily announced so-called ceasefire but it
appeared as a catch-word to escape from the foreign military intervention when
the regime kept on bombarding Misrata and other cities. The western appeal for
‘Gaddafi to depart from the power’ (BBC, 2011) is unheard and rather answered
by more violent means of suppressions. Libyan rebels initially captured
major territories backed by the NATO but are then forced back by Gaddafi’s
forces. Gaddafi is being more brutal to its civilians as it is said that the
regime has killed the army officers who refused to shoot the rebellions (BBC, 2011;
Guardian, 2011).
Ø The crux of
liberal internationalism is to manage global peace and prosperity through
international cooperation and organization like United Nation. It assumes
“peace, development, and democracy” as the quintessential element of a state and
United Nations is assumed to be a facilitator to guarantee and promote it (Bretherton).
So, the maintenance of the international peace, security, social justice, and
individual rights come under the obligation of UN which can be seen as the
pressure on Security Council to enforce the no-fly zone in Libya followed by
the humanitarian intervene. Bretherton writes, ‘to pursuit its purposes, both
the organization and its members are required to act in accordance with a set
of principles’ and it is based on the principle of collective security (pg
132-134). But the question of degree of suffering which might justify the
coercive intervention which might result in more devastation puts the UN
decision in limbo so as the case with Libya and the disagreement of Russia and
china over the intervene.
Ø As the protest against Gaddafi and the
counter attack by the Gaddafi increases, the pressure to Security Council to
declare no-fly zone increases. Britain, France and United States urge UN to
impose no-fly zone in Libya. Similarly, the call from inside as well as outside
pressures the Security Council to declare no-fly zone in Libya. Finally, The Security Council acting under the authority of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, approved the
resolution to create a no-fly zone on Libya though
the countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Germany remain silent to this decision. Coalition
forces under NATO began the military intervention in Libya as Security
Council called for using "all necessary
means" to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas from attack. As
the attack on Libya increases, Arab League which supported the no-fly zone in
the beginning withdrew its consensus. On the other hand, countries like china
and Russia expressed their disagreement over the decision as Putin said that
the UN resolution is defective and flawed which is going beyond
the no-fly zone resolution. Similarly, The Chinese foreign ministry said China “as
always does not agree with the use of force in international relations”. (CNN World, 2011; new statesman, 2011; the telegraph,
2011; Washington post, 2011; Aljazeera, 2011).
Ø The
act of declaring no-fly zone and the act on intervention is defined as a
humanitarian intervention rather than political to save a large number of
civilian and to avert from the possible civil war. The Security Council
considering the attack said it might constitute crimes against humanity, imposed
a no-fly zone and tightened sanctions on the Gaddafi regime and its supporters.
The Council stressed the need to intensify efforts
to find a solution to the crisis that responded to the legitimate demands of
the Libyan people (UN Security Council, 2011). But on the other hand, the
protest has turned more like a civil war as Gaddafi has declared to open the
ammunition for everyone to suppress the protest and it is claimed that to stop Gaddafi
and the possible civil war the intervention is needed. But the possibility of
clash between rebel, backed by the international force, and the supporter of
Gaddafi along with the national force might lead to the more violent civil war
and the displacement of a large number of people.
Ø In conclusion, the ongoing protest in the
Arab world has obviously represented the peoples need for change and the fall
of autocratic regime from the globe. Along with this, the interest of the West
as in Libya is increasing. Though the intervention is defined as a humanitarian
act, under the veil, there lies other interest as well. When the US and its
allies invaded Iraq the aim was to overthrow Saddam Hussein. When NATO entered
Kosovo its purpose was to stop ethnic cleansing (Aljazeera, 2011). The precise objective
of the Libyan war is to over throw Gaddafi but does it end with departure of
Gaddafi? The consequence is in the form of embryo and it is problematic to
decide where the humanitarian intervention might lead.
Aljazeera.
(2011). Profile: Muammar Gaddafi. [Online]. Available from:
Aljazeera.
(2011). Region in Turmoil. [Online].
Available from:
BBC
News. (2011). Libya: UN Security Council votes sanctions on Gaddafi. [Online]. Available from:
BBC News. (2011). Timeline: Libya. [Online]. Available from:
Bretherton,
C. (n.d.). Security after the Cold War: Toward a Global Paradigm?
CNN
World (2011). What the Libyan no-fly zone
means. [Online]. Available from:
New
Statesman. (2011). UN no-fly zone over
Libya [Online]. Available from:
0 Response to " ‘The case for intervention to resolve the current crisis in Libya’"
Post a Comment