Libya: The Hard-Sell is Coming

When presidents are writing editorials in newspapers a hard-sell is just around the corner. Judging by the recent tripartite op-ed in the New York Times by Obama, Sarkozy, and Cameron regarding Libya, the hard-sell is most likely a protracted air campaign above Libya with an ever increasing ground presence below possibly leading to an all out invasion. Clearly the operation in Libya will exceed the “days or weeks, but not months” we were told it would take.

Predictably the UNSC r.1973 mandate of “protecting civilians” has “mission crept” into providing air cover for armed militants as they fight towards Tripoli – militants now openly proclaiming their allegiance to Al Qaeda. The CIA and MI6 are also admittedly on the ground assisting the rebels and attempting to bring down Qaddafi’s regime – violating entirely the contrived UNSC r.1973 that defined the intervention in the first place. Further violations come in the form of US calls to arm the rebels and allowing arms to flow into eastern Libya from Egypt. Hillary Clinton said she believed arming rebel groups was legal under UNSC r.1973. Of course, as Adolf Hitler has reminded us, everything is legal when you are the one writing the laws.