[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 38 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1579-S1584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LIBYA
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today my colleague, Senator Lieberman, and
I are preparing to submit a resolution on the situation in Libya.
Mr. President, is it allowed to send to the desk a resolution even
though we are in morning business and its consideration be delayed
until the appropriate time?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will then be
received and appropriately referred.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, the wording of the resolution is a sense
of the Senate. It is pretty simple and straightforward. It calls for a
recognition of the provisional revolutionary government in Libya, and
it calls for placing as rapidly as possible a no-fly zone over Libya.
It has some other language associated with it, which I would go into
later on. But the fact is, what it does is urge the President of the
United States to take long-overdue action to prevent the massacres that
are taking place in Libya as we speak. At this moment, opponents of
Colonel Qadhafi and his supporters are fighting for their very
survival.
The demands of the Libyan people began much like those of their
neighbors in North Africa and the Middle East--for the protection of
their universal rights, for greater political freedom and
representative government, for justice and opportunity. But the
response of Qadhafi and those still loyal to him stands in stark
contrast to the inspiring events of what some are calling the Arab
spring. Qadhafi has unleashed a merciless campaign of violence against
the Libyan people, including civilian noncombatants, using every tool
at his disposal, from artillery barrages, to airstrikes, to the
employment of foreign mercenaries. As President Bill Clinton correctly
stated last week, ``It is not a fair fight.''
It is not a fair fight, and now the hour is growing dark. Over the
past week, the momentum has increasingly shifted away from the
opposition and toward Qadhafi--showing once again what a lot of us
understand about warfare: that a smaller well-trained, well-equipped
force can usually prevail over a larger less-trained and less-equipped
force.
One by one, towns that had been liberated by the opposition are now
falling to Qadhafi's forces. We are only now beginning to learn the
savage cost of those losses, especially on the civilian population--the
women, children, and elderly who could neither fight nor flee Qadhafi's
rampage and, of course, those brave Libyan rebels, or the many
suspected of aiding their cause, who face certain death or perhaps a
fate worse than death. We are horrified by what we have learned
already, but what we have yet to learn and what we could still witness
if Qadhafi's forces are allowed to finish this unfair fight will shock
and offend the conscience of the entire world.
Last week, in a hearing in the Committee on Armed Services, the
Director of National Intelligence said that absent outside assistance
to the opposition, ``I think over the long term that the [Qadhafi]
regime will prevail.'' And yet it is the policy of the United States,
as stated by the President, that ``Qaddafi must step down from power
and leave.'' That is the right policy, but it is increasingly at odds
now with the facts on the ground.
So we face a stark choice: either the President and the United States
take
[[Page S1580]]
greater action to achieve the objectives he has laid out or we allow
events to play out as they are, meaning that Qadhafi reclaims control
of their country.
The resolution Senator Lieberman and I are submitting calls on the
President to take a number of steps immediately to reverse this
impending disaster.
First, the President should recognize Libya's Transitional National
Council, which is based in Benghazi but representative of communities
across the country as the sole legitimate governing authority of
Libya--just as the government of France has done. President Sarkozy and
the French have recognized the sole legitimate government in Libya as
the provisional government which is based in Benghazi.
Some continue to say we do not know who the opposition is and, thus,
we cannot assist them. That is ridiculous. They have been organized for
weeks. Their senior leaders consist of longstanding critics of Qadhafi
as well as officials who recently broke with his regime. They even have
a Web site. And they are asking--they are pleading; they are pleading--
for international support.
Qadhafi has forfeited the right to power through his vicious actions.
We must recognize the opposition government.
Second, the President should take immediate steps to implement a no-
fly zone in Libya with international support. Not only has the Libyan
opposition government called for this, the Gulf Cooperation Council has
called for a no-fly zone. The head of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference has called for a no-fly zone. On Saturday, the Arab League
called for a no-fly zone. The French and British Governments have
voiced their support and have drafted a U.N. Security Council
resolution to implement a no-fly zone. It is long past time for the
President of the United States to answer these calls for international
leadership. The United States of America must lead.
A no-fly zone was never going to be the decisive action that tipped
the balance against Qadhafi, even when Senator Lieberman and I called
for it nearly 3 weeks ago, but it remains the case that a no-fly zone
would take one of Qadhafi's most lethal tools off the table and thereby
boost the confidence of Libya's opposition. It is Libyans themselves
who want to do the fighting against Qadhafi, but they want it to be a
fair fight, and so should we.
Finally, the President should develop and implement a comprehensive
strategy to accomplish the stated U.S. objective of Qadhafi leaving
power. Beyond a no-fly zone and beyond those actions such as sanctions
and humanitarian assistance that we are already taking, there are many
actions we could consider, from sharing intelligence on Qadhafi's
forces with the opposition, to providing them with support for command
and control, to technical assistance, and even forms of security
assistance if they request it--we could jam Qadhafi's communications
and his television--and if we can provide it in a responsible way.
Our window of opportunity to support the Libyan people is closing
quickly, and this country has a choice to make. Are we going to take
action to support the people of Libya in their fight for freedom or are
we going to stand by doing more than nothing but less than enough to
achieve our stated goal of Qadhafi leaving power?
We all say we support the universal rights of the Arabs and Muslims
in countries across the Middle East and North Africa who are inspiring
us all in their quest for greater freedom, opportunity, and justice.
But Libya is the real test. It is the test of whether we will provide
our support not just when it is easy but when it is difficult, when it
requires more of us than just speeches and expressions of solidarity.
If Qadhafi is allowed to prevail in Libya and crush his opponents, it
will send a signal throughout the region that force is the way to
respond to peaceful demands for a better life, and it will cause all of
our expressions of support for the universal rights of all people to
ring far more hollow.
Before I yield to my friend from Connecticut, I would like to point
out that now we have former President Clinton, we have the Arab League,
we have the French, the British, other nations throughout the world,
and organizations in the region and without that are saying--crying
out--that we need to help these people. And when President Obama says
the noose is tightening around Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi, in fact, it
is tightening around the Libyan rebels. And the way he is doing it and
what he is doing to his own people are crimes against humanity.
It is time we stood up. It is time we read from the New York Times
this morning an article by Anne-Marie Slaughter entitled ``Fiddling
While Libya Burns.'' It is time we read again, from Saturday, the Wall
Street Journal's lead editorial entitled ``The Obama Doctrine, Libya is
what a world without U.S. leadership looks like.''
``This is the Obama conception of the U.S. role in the
world--to work through multilateral organizations and
bilateral relationships to make sure that the steps we are
taking are amplified.''
That was by National Security Council spokesman Ben Rhodes, as quoted
in the Washington Post.
``They bombed us with tanks, airplanes, missiles coming
from every direction. . . . We need international support, at
least a no-fly zone. Why is the world not supporting us?''
That is from Libyan rebel Mahmoud Abdel Hamid, on March 10, as quoted
in the Wall Street Journal.
These people are crying out for help. They are fighting for freedom.
They are fighting an unequal situation on the battlefield. The least we
can do--the very least we can do--is recognize them in their struggle
for freedom and give them some assistance; otherwise, as the
President's National Security Adviser stated on Friday: Qadhafi will
prevail. That will send a signal throughout the world that we will have
Tiananmen Squares in this world, not Tahrir Squares.
I yield to my colleague from Connecticut.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I thank my friend and colleague from
Arizona. It is my honor to join with him in submitting this resolution.
I hope in time that we will gather the support of Members on both sides
of the political aisle and that we will make a statement, an urgent
statement, that the Members of the U.S. Senate are ready, across party
lines, to take a stand because we understand we are at a turning point
in history and we cannot stand back and hope it goes in the right
direction. In fact, today, as we watch events unfolding in Libya, I
think we have reason to believe it is going in exactly the wrong
direction.
Let me read the first two paragraphs of this resolution Senator
McCain and I are submitting because I think it sets what is happening
in Libya in a context and also explains why we think America has a
national interest in how the conflict in Libya ends.
The first paragraph of the resolution we are submitting reads:
Whereas peaceful demonstrations, inspired by similar
peaceful demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere in
the Middle East, began in Libya with calls for greater
political reform, opportunity, justice and the rule of law
and quickly spread to cities around the country.
The second paragraph:
Whereas Muammar Qaddafi, his sons, and forces loyal to them
have responded to the peaceful demonstrations by authorizing
and initiating violence against civilian non-combatants in
Libya, including the use of airpower, foreign mercenaries,
helicopters, mortar and artillery fire, naval assets, snipers
and soldiers.
I read those two paragraphs because they set exactly in context what
is happening in Libya. The fact is that Libya is occurring in the
context of these extraordinary, peaceful, democratic uprisings in
Tunisia and Egypt that have been described--and I think correctly--as
the Arab spring.
For too long, we accepted an argument that there were only two
choices for the United States and most of the rest of the world in the
Arab world. There was a choice between secular dictatorships that were
cordial to us on one side and on the other side radical Islamist
regimes that despised us and were threatening to us. We made our peace
with those secular dictatorships, but it was inherently uncomfortable
and inconsistent with our basic democratic values going back to the
Declaration of Independence.
Beginning in Tunisia and spreading to Egypt and then to Libya and
other
[[Page S1581]]
countries, the Arab people themselves rose up and said: No, there is a
third way. And the third way is democracy. We want political freedom.
We want economic opportunity. We want into the modern world. We don't
want extremism of any kind.
Those revolutions, those uprisings resulted in the end of the rule of
two longstanding rulers, Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, and
they happened peacefully for a lot of reasons. Part of it was that
those two leaders did not order their militaries to turn on their own
people, and the militaries, perhaps, in those two cases would not have
done it in any case. So that is the Arab spring.
But now, in Libya, because Qadhafi has taken exactly the opposite
position and turned his guns and his military power on his own people
as they peacefully demonstrate for change, for universal human rights,
there is a danger that what is happening in Libya is essentially a wall
being put up which says: This peaceful democratic revolution in the
Arab world ends here. To put it another way, the Arab spring may be
going the way of the Prague spring of 1968 when the people of then-
Czechoslovakia rose up and Soviet tanks and armaments suppressed their
revolution. We simply cannot let that happen.
Senator McCain and I were in Tunisia and Egypt a couple of weeks ago,
and one of the messages we got, particularly from the young people who
have been at the head of this remarkable uprising in these two
countries, was: Don't stand by. Please, America, don't stand by and let
Qadhafi bludgeon his own people who are asking for the same rights and
opportunity and freedoms we have been asking for. If you do, it will
end the movement of freedom and opportunity across the Arab world. In
some sense, the Tunisians and Egyptians said to us: It may set back our
own cause, even though we have been successful thus far. That is why it
has been so frustrating, really infuriating, to watch as Qadhafi has
moved with increasing brutality and force against his own people,
pushing his opponents back, threatening to totally suppress their
uprising.
I have been struck as I have watched that the world community--most
of it--is spending so much time discussing and debating, and as the
world discusses and debates what to do in Libya, Libya descends back
into Qadhafi's darkness. We simply cannot let that happen.
The Libyan people are not asking us to come in and fight for them.
The Libyan people don't want our troops on the ground. That is not what
this resolution would authorize. The Libyan people want us to come to
their aid in the sense of enabling them to fight Qadhafi's forces and
Qadhafi to carry on as freedom fighters. They want recognition as the
established and legal authority, sovereignty for their country. They
would like some military assistance. They would like weapons. They
would like the kind of intelligence and electronic assistance we can
give, and they would like us in some way--a no-fly zone or using our
capacity to fire missiles from offshore--to protect them from what has
turned the tide in their struggle for freedom against Qadhafi and
Libya, which is the brutal use of Libyan air power against the Libyan
people. If we don't do this, I fear this Arab spring will turn to
winter--a winter of darkness and suppression--again, too quickly, and
the world will regret it.
People have said to Senator McCain and me: What is the American
national interest in getting involved in Libya? Let me just give a few
reasons I think we do have an interest.
First, we have a clear national interest--a humanitarian interest--in
not standing idly by and watching tens of thousands of people
slaughtered by their own government. As I have said, if we stand by and
do nothing, if this happens, it will be devastating to America's image
in the Arab world and to our moral leadership throughout the world.
Some people have argued: Why would we want to get involved in yet a
third Arab or Muslim country, thinking of Iraq and Afghanistan before
that. But this is more like 1990 and 1991 and the first gulf war when
the Arab world itself was calling out to us: Please help us get Saddam
out of Kuwait. The Arab world, as Senator McCain said, is pleading with
us: Help stop Qadhafi from slaughtering his own people, the blood of
our brothers and sisters in Libya.
Second, we have a clear national interest in preventing Libya from
becoming a failed state that al-Qaida and other Islamist groups will
exploit, and that is precisely what will happen if this becomes a
bloody and protracted civil war and then descends into chaos.
Third, if Qadhafi is able to defeat this uprising, it will send a
message, as Senator McCain has said, to every dictator in the world
that the way to stop peaceful democratic protest is through brutal
violence.
Fourth, I don't mean this quote literally, but remember the old
phrase from earlier times in history: If you go after the king, make
sure you eliminate him. Don't leave him wounded. If Qadhafi survives
this, he is going to cause no end of trouble for the United States and
anyone else in the world who stood with the freedom fighters. So let's
not think we can stand idly by and that we will not pay ourselves the
consequences of Qadhafi surviving.
Finally, there is a relationship between what is happening in Libya
today and the instability it has caused throughout that region of the
world and the skyrocketing price of gasoline at the pump that does
concern the American people every day. In fact, with all that has been
discussed, I think the best we can do to stabilize the price of
gasoline in America is to stabilize Libya and to enable the Libyan
opposition to Qadhafi to fight the fair fight they want to fight.
So that is the intention of this resolution. It is, as the French
would say, a ``cris de coeur.'' It is a cry from our hearts because I
fear we have let so much time go by that it may be impossible to enable
the freedom fighters in Libya to wage a fair fight.
I hope their cause is not lost because it is our cause, and the least
we can do is help them fight for that cause against the man who has
suppressed that cause under his rule.
I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask my friend from Connecticut if we
couldn't review a few of the facts as they are now. Despite the fact
that the President made a statement that I am still bewildered by--I
believe it was Saturday or Friday when the President said the noose is
tightening around Colonel Muammar Qadhafi.
I think the facts on the ground indicate that with superior
firepower, the ability to strike from the air, even if those strikes
are not particularly effective--although, apparently, they are becoming
more effective--and well-trained and well-equipped small forces,
Colonel Qadhafi has been able to reverse the tide on the battlefield
rather dramatically. All of the news reports are that the military
situation on the ground has shifted dramatically in favor of Qadhafi's
forces.
General Clapper, our Director of National Intelligence, said on
Thursday that Qadhafi is likely to win in the long term. Then, on the
other side of the coin, the President of the United States has said
Qadhafi must go.
So I guess my first question to my colleague is--as the Wall Street
Journal says, if Qadhafi survives, after Mr. Obama has told him to go,
the blow to U.S. prestige and world order would be enormous. Dictators
will learn that the way to keep America from acting is to keep its
diplomats and citizens around while mowing down your opponents as the
world debates contingency. By the time the babblers make a decision, it
will be too late. This is a dangerous message to send at any time but
especially with the Middle East in the throes of revolution.
American prestige is now on the line. The battlefield situation is
that the tide is obviously against the prodemocracy forces. Wouldn't
the message be sent to any dictator in any region of the world that
rather than accept a situation such as happened in Egypt and Tunisia,
send in the tanks, send in the military, slaughter people without
consequence? Is that the lesson we would be sending, I ask my friend
from Connecticut?
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I thank my friend and colleague from
Arizona. I fear that is exactly the message we would be sending if the
United States and our allies stand back and let Qadhafi, through the
force of his arms, suppress political dissent from his own people.
[[Page S1582]]
One of the inspiring qualities to the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt
was that they were peaceful. Incidentally, they were not anti-American.
They were pro-Tunisia, pro-Egypt. The people of Tunisia and Egypt were
pleading for a better life. So the model there and one of the most
powerful examples of peaceful protests, which is part of American
history, was established. It changed those two governments, Tunisia and
Egypt.
Now we have another model being set; that is, when your people rise
up and peacefully protest, you don't respond, you don't negotiate, you
don't listen to them, you don't react. You turn your firepower on them.
You kill them wantonly, and you keep doing that until that dissent
ends. One, in a world that is increasingly dangerous, that is a
terrible message to send.
Two, in a world in which--well, let's just go back a little bit to
what were false choices in the Arab world. But in the uprisings in
Tunisia and in Egypt, there has been expressed the strongest possible
repudiation of al-Qaida on the one hand, and Iran on the other--that is
the Government of Iran--both of which have followed an Islamist
extremist ideology and used violence to achieve their ends.
So we have the Tunisia-Egypt model of peaceful protest, democracy,
economic opportunity, and now we have the other model of Qadhafi, which
is violence, which will beget more violence and will cost us dearly.
I say to my friend from Arizona, as we say in our resolution,
President Obama has made clear that he believes Qadhafi must go. If,
after that clear statement of American policy by our Commander in
Chief, Qadhafi does not go, and it is seen not just in the Arab world
but throughout the wider world that the United States was not able to
mobilize action in the world community to make sure Qadhafi went, but
in fact he stayed, it inevitably has an effect on the credibility of
American leadership in the world.
None of us want that to happen, including President Obama. So it is
not too late. The actions we have taken, significant as they are--
sanctions on Qadhafi and some people close to him, the threat or the
plan to refer others close to him to the International Court of
Justice--all are important. But, unfortunately, what is more important
now is what is happening on the ground in Libya. On the ground in
Libya, the power of the forces of Qadhafi are winning in a fight that
is not fair.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I say to my friend that I think that is a
strong and eloquent statement. I admit to the fact that the terrible
tragedy that has transpired in Japan is one that has riveted the
attention of our Nation and the world. Our hearts go out to the
Japanese people and their government in this terrible time of trial.
There is no way we can diminish the tragedy they are experiencing. But
it is a natural disaster that was the catalyst for that terrible
situation.
Meanwhile, in Libya, we have a human catalyst named Muammar Qadhafi.
I admit and I will confess to having such a dull life that I watch a
lot of cable television. I see expert after expert come before the
cameras and give us reasons the United States should do nothing.
I commend to my colleagues for reading an article in today's New York
Times by Anne-Marie Slaughter, formerly in policy planning at the State
Department, as I understand it, in this administration or in another.
It does respond to what we will hear continuously. The article is
entitled ``Fiddling While Libya Burns.''
At the beginning, she points out that the Organization of the Islamic
Conference, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and now the Arab League have
all called for imposing a no-fly zone. She runs through the objections
raised by various individuals and ``experts.'' One part is entitled
``It's Not In Our Interest.'' One is entitled ``It Will Be
Counterproductive.'' Another is ``It Won't Work.'' Another is ``If It
Does Work, We Don't Know What We Will Get.'' The last is ``Let's Arm
The Rebels Instead.''
It addresses most of the main arguments. The only one I think should
be added to this list is the likelihood that things are happening in
Libya today, as we speak, that will remind us that several times in the
last century--and even in this one--we said never again. We said never
again after Srebenica, after Rwanda, after the Holocaust, and on
several other occasions when nations stood by while slaughter was
taking place.
Is there anyone who believes that Qadhafi has not practiced in the
past, is practicing now, and will practice in the future unspeakable
cruelties which will be inflicted upon his people who dare to stand up
to him? So I say to my friend: Here we are.
We know what happened in Tripoli and what happened with air attacks
that are taking place on defenseless individuals. We watch these brave
young people go out there with the Kalashnikovs and other things and
fight against the tanks and air power. As former President Clinton said
so eloquently: It is not a fair fight. It is not a fair fight.
I guess there will be other consultations with our allies that we
will undertake. I am glad to see that the Secretary of State is meeting
with the leadership of the provisional government. I hope she will, as
a result of that meeting, ask for the U.S. recognition of that
organization as the legitimate government of the country of Libya. I
hope all these things will happen. But, meanwhile, events are unfolding
on the ground every second and minute, and the longer we wait to act,
more Libyans will die. This is a preventable situation.
The events in Japan, we can argue, were not preventable. It was an
act of God. What is happening in Libya is an act of a brutal tyrant and
sadist who is willing to butcher his own people. We are doing
everything we can, and we will do everything we can to help the people
of Japan. We ought to be doing what we can to keep the people of Libya
from a fate that, in some cases, to some individuals, may be worse than
death.
I hope the majority leader will allow a vote on this sense-of-the-
Senate resolution as soon as possible. I understand there will be those
who may like to see slightly different language. We would be glad to
change the language somewhat, but we will not change the message. The
message is that the United States of America--the Senate of the United
States is standing on the side of people who are standing up for
freedom and democracy, a universal value that we treasure. We will not
stint in our obligations. Those who say the most powerful Nation in the
world is incapable of helping these people by installing a no-fly zone,
I think that is not substantiated by the facts.
GEN Raymond Odierno said the other day that we could install a no-fly
zone in just a few days. We could have naval power offshore that could
enforce it in a variety of ways, from the sea as well as from the air.
Also, it is very clear to me that if Libyan pilots are told if they fly
they are going to die, a lot of them would not fly.
I don't want to focus so much attention on the no-fly zone as I do on
what is happening to the people of Libya as we speak and the
repercussions that could take place throughout the globe. I hope we can
vote on this sooner rather than later. I ask my friend from
Connecticut--I believe we are nearly out of time.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I just want to conclude by saying this:
In our history in this country we have, again, been quite fortunate,
and it may be that--as a friend of mine said to me, it is hard for
people to imagine themselves in a position where they would need to be
rescued from danger, from death. Senator McCain cited some of the
episodes, dark times in recent history, where people needed that help
from outside--the Holocaust, Srebenica, the Balkans, Rwanda. We acted.
This is of that same type.
But when we think about Japan, there is this parallel to the United
States. There have been natural disasters in this country--earthquakes,
hurricanes. Katrina is an example. When the people of the gulf coast
region pleaded with us, the central government, the National
Government, the Federal Government, for help, we gave it to them. I
will never forget what the Coast Guard did in rescuing lives on the
gulf coast after Katrina. In some ways I think we have to perhaps see
it as a manmade disaster, as a natural disaster. It is a basic rescue.
In this case they are not asking us to fight their fight. They are
asking us to leave them the weapons, the cover, so that they can fight
their fight. That is the
[[Page S1583]]
intention of this resolution--bottom line--to recognize the opposition
to Qadhafi in Benghazi as the government and legitimate suffering
government of Libya, and then work with our allies in the world
community, including not only our NATO allies but in the Arab League
and the Gulf Council to protect the Libyan people from Qadhafi's air
force.
I join with Senator McCain in saying that I hope Senators Reid and
McConnell can agree on a way to bring forth this resolution quickly.
Every moment that passes without us helping the Libyan opposition to
make it a fair fight is a moment in which darkness descends over Libya.
Again, Senator McCain said we are willing to discuss changes to the
resolution because we would like this to be a resolution that has the
broadest possible bipartisan support in the Senate.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Wall
Street Journal editorial entitled ``The Obama Doctrine,'' the New York
Times article, ``Fiddling While Libya Burns,'' and, from the Daily
Beast, an interview with the Libyan resistance leader, entitled ``Rebel
Leader: Give Us A Chance,'' be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the New York Times, Mar. 13, 2011]
Fiddling While Libya Burns
(By Anne-Marie Slaughter)
President Obama says the noose is tightening around Col.
Muammar el-Qaddafi. In fact, it is tightening around the
Libyan rebels, as Colonel Qaddafi makes the most of the
world's dithering and steadily retakes rebel-held towns. The
United States and Europe are temporizing on a no-flight zone
while the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf
Cooperation Council and now the Arab League have all called
on the United Nations Security Council to authorize one.
Opponents of a no-flight zone have put forth five main
arguments, none of which, on close examination, hold up.
it's not in our interest
Gen. Wesley K. Clark argues that ``Libya doesn't sell much
oil to the United States'' and that while Americans ``want to
support democratic movements in the region,'' we are already
doing that in Iraq and Afghanistan. Framing this issue in
terms of oil is exactly what Arab populations and indeed much
of the world expect, which is why they are so cynical about
our professions of support for democracy and human rights.
Now we have a chance to support a real new beginning in the
Muslim world--a new beginning of accountable governments that
can provide services and opportunities for their citizens in
ways that could dramatically decrease support for terrorist
groups and violent extremism. It's hard to imagine something
more in our strategic interest.
IT WILL BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
Many thoughtful commentators, including Al Jazeera's
director general, Wadah Khanfar, argue that what is most
important about the Arab spring is that it is coming from
Arabs themselves. From this perspective, Western military
intervention will play right into Colonel Qaddafi's hands,
allowing him to broadcast pictures of Western bombs falling
on Arab civilians. But these arguments, while important, must
be weighed against the appeals of Libyan opposition fighters
for international help, and now, astonishingly, against
support for a no-flight zone by some of the same governments
that have kept their populations quiescent by holding up the
specter of foreign intervention. Assuming that a no-flight
zone can be imposed by an international coalition that
includes Arab states, we have an opportunity to establish a
new narrative of Western support for Arab democrats.
IT WON'T WORK
The United States ambassador to NATO, Ivo H. Daalder,
argues that stopping Colonel Qaddafi's air force will not be
decisive; he will continue to inflict damage with tanks and
helicopters, bombing oil refineries and depots on his way to
retaking key towns. But the potential effect of a no-flight
zone must also be assessed in terms of Colonel Qaddafi's own
calculations about his future. Richard Downie of the Center
for Strategic and International Studies argues that although
Colonel Qaddafi cultivates a mad-dictator image, he has been
a canny survivor and political manipulator for 40 years. He
is aware of debates with regard to a no-flight zone and is
timing his military campaign accordingly; he is also capable
of using his air force just enough to gain strategic
advantage, but not enough to trigger a no-flight zone. If the
international community lines up against him and is willing
to crater his runways and take out his antiaircraft weapons,
he might well renew his offer of a negotiated departure.
IF IT DOES WORK, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE WILL GET
Revolutions are almost always followed by internal
divisions among the revolutionaries. We should not expect a
rosy, Jeffersonian Libya. But the choice is between
uncertainty and the certainty that if Colonel Qaddafi wins,
regimes across the region will conclude that force is the way
to answer protests. And when Colonel Qaddafi massacres the
opposition, young protesters across the Middle East will
conclude that when we were asked to support their cause with
more than words, we blinked. Americans in turn will read the
words of Mr. Obama's June 2009 speech in Cairo, with its
lofty promises to stand for universal human rights, and
cringe.
LET'S ARM THE REBELS INSTEAD
Some commentators who agree with the analysis above say we
could better accomplish our goals by providing intelligence
and arms to the opposition. That would, of course, be much
easier for us. It undoubtedly appeals to Mr. Obama as a neat
compromise between the desire to help the protesters and the
desire not to overrule his defense secretary's reluctance to
participate in a no-flight zone. However, we would be
providing arms not to a disciplined military, but to ragged
groups of brave volunteers who barely know how to use the
weapons they have. They need action that will change the
situation on the ground for Colonel Qaddafi, as well as his
calculations. Moreover, by the time arms and intelligence
could take effect, it is quite likely that Colonel Qaddafi
will have retaken or at least besieged Benghazi, the
opposition stronghold.
The United States should immediately ask the Security
Council to authorize a no-flight zone and make clear to
Russia and China that if they block the resolution, the blood
of the Libyan opposition will be on their hands. We should
push them at least to abstain, and bring the issue to a vote
as soon as possible. If we get a resolution, we should work
with the Arab League to assemble an international coalition
to impose the no-flight zone. If the Security Council fails
to act, then we should recognize the opposition Libyan
National Council as the legitimate government, as France has
done, and work with the Arab League to give the council any
assistance it requests.
Any use of force must be carefully and fully debated, but
that debate has now been had. It's been raging for a week,
during which almost every Arab country has come on board
calling for a no-flight zone and Colonel Qaddafi continues to
gain ground. It is time to act.
____
[From the Wall Street Journal, Mar. 12, 2011]
The Obama Doctrine
Libya is what a world without U.S. leadership looks like.
``This is the Obama conception of the U.S. role in the
world--to work through multilateral organizations and
bilateral relationships to make sure that the steps we are
taking are amplified.''
--White House National Security Council spokesman Ben
Rhodes, March 10, 2011, as quoted in the Washington Post
``They bombed us with tanks, airplanes, missiles coming
from every direction. . . . We need international support, at
least a no-fly zone. Why is the world not supporting us?''
--Libyan rebel Mahmoud Abdel Hamid, March 10, 2011, as
quoted in The Wall Street Journal
* * *
Whatever else one might say about President Obama's Libya
policy, it has succeeded brilliantly in achieving its oft-
stated goal of not leading the world. No one can any longer
doubt the U.S. determination not to act before the Italians
do, or until the Saudis approve, or without a U.N.
resolution. This White House is forthright for followership.
That message also couldn't be clearer to Moammar Gadhafi
and his sons, who are busy bombing and killing their way to
victory against the Libyan opposition. As the U.S. defers to
the world, the world can't decide what to do, and the vacuum
is filled by a dictator and his hard men who have concluded
that no one will stop them. ``Hear it now. I have only two
words for our brothers and sisters in the east: We're
coming,'' said Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam, on Thursday.
Three weeks into the Libyan uprising, here are some of the
live action highlights from what Mr. Obama likes to call
``the international community'':
The United Nations Security Council has imposed an arms
embargo, but with enough ambiguity that no one knows whether
it applies only to Gadhafi or also to the opposition. Even
the U.S. State Department and White House don't agree.
The U.N. has referred events to the International Criminal
Court for a war crimes investigation. Mr. Obama said
yesterday this sent a message to Gadhafi that ``the world is
watching,'' as if Gadhafi didn't know. But it also sends a
message that leaving Libya without bloodshed is not an
option, because he and his sons will still be pursued for war
crimes. Had Reagan pursued this strategy in the Philippines,
Marcos might never have gone into exile.
France has recognized the opposition National Council in
Benghazi, though the U.S. is only now sending envoys to meet
with the opposition for the first time. Dozens of Western
reporters can get rebel leaders on the phone, an opposition
delegation has visited French President Nicolas Sarkozy in
Paris, but the U.S. is still trying to figure out who these
people are. The American envoys better hurry because the
rebels may soon be dead.
The French want a no-fly zone, but the Italians and Germans
object. NATO is having
[[Page S1584]]
``a series of conversations about a wide range of options,''
as President Obama put it yesterday, but NATO Secretary-
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen emerged from a meeting of
defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday saying that ``We
considered . . . initial options regarding a possible no-fly
zone in case NATO were to receive a clear U.N. mandate'' (our
emphasis). The latter isn't likely because both China and
Russia object, but no doubt NATO will keep conversing about
the ``range of options'' next week.
Even as opposition leaders were asking for help, U.S.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the
world on Thursday that Gadhafi is likely to win in the long-
term. The Administration scrambled to say this was merely a
factual judgment about the balance of military power, but the
message couldn't be clearer to any of Gadhafi's generals who
might consider defecting: Do so at your peril because you
will join the losing side.
We could go on, but you get the idea. When the U.S. fails
to lead, the world reverts to its default mode as a
diplomatic Tower of Babel. Everyone discusses ``options'' and
``contingencies'' but no one has the will to act, while the
predators march.
This was true in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s until the
U.S. shamed Europe and NATO into using force with or without
a U.N. resolution. And it has been true in every case in
which the world finally resisted tyrants or terrorists, from
the Gulf War to Afghanistan to Iraq. When the U.S. chooses to
act like everyone else, the result is Rwanda, Darfur and now
Libya.
* * *
One difference in Libya is that the damage from a Gadhafi
victory would not merely be humanitarian, though that would
be awful enough. The only way Gadhafi can subdue Benghazi and
the east now is with a door-to-door purge and systematic
murder. The flow of refugees heading for Southern Europe
would also not be small.
If Gadhafi survives after Mr. Obama has told him to go, the
blow to U.S. prestige and world order would be enormous.
Dictators will learn that the way to keep America from acting
is to keep its diplomats and citizens around, while mowing
down your opponents as the world debates contingencies. By
the time the Babelers make a decision, it will be too late.
This is a dangerous message to send at any time, but
especially with a Middle East in the throes of revolution.
There is still time for Mr. Obama to salvage his Libya
policy, though the costs of doing so are rising every day.
Libya today is what a world without U.S. leadership looks
like.
____
[From the DailyBeast.com, Mar. 14, 2011]
Rebel Leader: Give Us a Chance
With the Libyan resistance in retreat, opposition leader
Mustafa Abdul Jalil tells The Daily Beast's Fadel Lamen that
his side needs a no-fly zone and a naval blockade to create a
fair fight.
Muammar Gaddafi gave an official face to his diffused
opposition on Thursday by placing a $400,000 bounty on the
head of Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Gaddafi's former justice
minister who has now emerged as leader of Libyan National
Transitional Council. And ever since, the dictator's forces
have seemingly been trying to collect, overtaking city after
city in the past few days, putting the rebels in full
retreat.
The resistance's only hope seems to be some kind of
intervention--most critically a no-fly zone, which the Arab
League endorsed Saturday. That issue is expected to be taken
up at the United Nations imminently, and Hillary Clinton is
also flying east this week to meet with Jalil and other rebel
leaders.
With that as a backdrop, The Daily Beast secured an
exclusive interview with Jalil this weekend. He thanked the
Arab League for their vote, terming it ``a first and
important step and a basis for an international decision.''
Regarding Gaddafi's issuance of the $400,000 bounty against
him (in doing so, the dictator labeled him an agent of the
Italians, the British, and Libya's deposed royal family),
Jalil refused to return the favor, saying only that ``he has
no place in Libya anymore, if he leaves now we will not
pursue him . . . the council and the Libyan people have no
choice but to fight Gaddafi till the end.''
Jalil also touched base on the battlefield map, the makeup
of the opposition, and the role of al Qaeda:
We have heard conflicting messages about international
intervention, and whether the Libyan rebels want outside help
or not. What is it that you want from the rest of the world?
We want a no-fly zone, and a naval blockade. Gaddafi has
been using his air force and navy to destroy the country and
all the cities. All we want is to have the international
community level the playing field. We don't want boots on the
ground. We can fight to liberate our own country with our own
blood and that will be our honor.
We need the international community to recognize our
council as the sole representative of the Libyan people. No
Libyan so far disputed the legitimacy of the council except
Gaddafi and whatever is left of this regime.
We need humanitarian help, like food and medicine. The lack
of international decisiveness is sending Gaddafi and his gang
the wrong message, it emboldened him and makes him feel free
to commit more war crimes against the Libyan people.
We expect tough and hard days as the world saw what Gaddafi
did in Zawiya and how he bombed the oil installations in Ras
Lanouf. Gaddafi will use anything to stay in power and the
Libyan people made the decision that he must go and genocide
will be committed if the world community doesn't get its act
together and help us.
Gaddafi's forces are clearly on the offensive, with the
rebels in retreat. How do you evaluate the military situation
right now?
What we see is not a war between two armies, but
revolutionaries trying to free their country. They started
peacefully but were attacked with violence and bullets,
antiaircraft machine-guns, and rockets and of course
mercenaries. They are defending themselves and trying to free
the rest of the country that is held hostage under Gaddafi.
The balance of power in the battlefield is not equal, but
the sheer will of the Libyan people to rid the country of
Gaddafi's regime, which like a cancer, requires sacrifice and
blood like any other major surgery. We will prevail.
What about al Qaeda in Libya? Gaddafi blames the uprising
on al Qaeda and there were several reports mentioning some
kind of al Qaeda presence in Libya.
There is no al Qaeda in Libya. Gaddafi is using this as a
scare tactic to create fear and distrust between us the
international community, but the world learned a long time
ago not to trust or believe Gaddafi. There is no place for al
Qaeda in Libya, now or in the future. The Libyan people are
moderate Muslims and do not subscribe to these extremist
ideologies. Libya is and will be a moderate Muslim country
where democracy and rule of law will be supreme.
The Libyan people suffered so much for over 41 years from
Gaddafi's extremist ideology and will not replace it with
anything but democracy and the rule of law. Libya is part of
the Mediterranean basin and has a rich history and will
always be a source of moderation and stability. We will
respect all international laws and cooperate with the world
community and bring the respect and trust that Libya enjoyed
with the rest of the world before Gaddafi's 41 years of
darkness.
There have been many reports in the Western press about the
lack of a central opposition. How did you come up with the
council and does it represent the Libyan people?
The council derives its legitimacy from the local councils
that were organized by the local revolutionaries in every
village and city, political councils organized to administer
the local people's affairs like providing services, food, law
and order.
Each locality nominated representatives to be members in
the National Transitional Council, according to their
population ratio of the total Libyan population. The main
role of the council is to represent the interest of the
Libyan people locally and internationally. Members of the
council were chosen with no regard to the political views or
leaning.
How long will this council last?
The role will end with the end of Gaddafi's regime. A
transitional government will be formed around the members of
the crisis team, of whom we named only two of its members:
Ambassdor Ali Issawi and Omar al-Hariri, head of the military
affairs. The council withheld names of members in other
cities like Zawiya, Nalot, Musrata, Zentan, Zawara, Tripoli,
Jado.
Given the unwieldly nature of such an organization, what's
your decision-making mechanism?
We use wide consultations within and outside the council,
we debate and discuss and try to reach consciences as we keep
our goals. We don't suffer from any real disagreements or
conflict within the council. We have developed several
committees and teams to deal with legal, political, social,
humanitarian, defense, oil, economy that we hope to become
the seeds for the transitional government.
Should you prevail, what's your vision of the new Libya?
We are striving for a new democratic, civil Libya, led by
democratic and civil government that focuses on economic
development, building civil society and civil institutions
and a multi-party system. A Libya that respects all
international agreements, is good to its neighbors, stands
against terrorism, with respect for all religions and
ethnicities.
How would you the transition to a democratic Libya?
We will be seeking a smooth peaceful transition, with a
drafting of a new constitution that will lead the country to
a free and fair legislative and parliamentarian elections as
well as presidential election. No member of the transitional
council will have the right to run for any of these
elections. There will be peaceful conference of governance
according to elections, under the observation of the
international organizations.
____________________