Libya and the ghosts of Rwanda and Srebrenica

The ghosts of Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Srebrenica will return to haunt those who are pussy-footing on the Libyan situation.

James Debono 25 February 2011, 12:00am

3 min read

The longer the tyrant stays in power and is given the chance to consolidate his hold on the western part of Libya, the greater the chance of a bloodbath and the greater the risks of instability on our backyard. If Gaddafi does not go anytime soon, and he seems to have no intention to do so, the international community will face a great dilemma.

To avoid arriving at the stage where the only option left will be a humanitarian and military-backed intervention, the United Nations is duty-bound to issue a clear warning to Gaddafi by referring him and anyone obeying his orders to a war crimes tribunal, impose sanctions on the ruling elite, as well as asking all countries to freeze the regime's assets.

But if all this fails to depose the tyrant we have to prepare for the worst. Failure to protect the liberated zones from a counter-attack by the Gaddafi militias could result in a catastrophe similar to that in Iraq in 199,1 when a moribund and defeated regime suddenly found its strength to strangle the revolt by committing genocide. Let us not forget for a moment that Gaddafi has in the past sponsored monsters like Charles Taylor in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In the early 1990s Gaddafi was busy pumping money and arms into the hands of RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh and former Liberian president Charles Taylor. In 1985, Taylor received military training in Libya as a guest of Gaddafi; there, he met Sankoh, and the rest is bloody history.

The institution of a no-fly zone would be a step in the right direction. But let's be clear: a no-fly zone means shooting down any plane which violates it. Obviously I am not advocating bombarding Tripoli but ensuring that no military planes are allowed to bomb civilians. Surely this is risky as it could play in to the regime's hands, but that is no excuse for allowing a bloodbath which has already started. That is all the more reason for Europe, ideally in cooperation with Arab states, to assume its responsibilities rather than leave this up to the United States.

12 years ago we were faced with the genocide in Kosovo: even pacifists like German foreign Minister Joscka Fischer found themselves accepting the principle of humanitarian intervention. Fresh in their minds was the impotence of the west in the face of Srebrenica and Rwanda. We should never again find ourselves in these situations where thousands were massacred by war criminals as the world turned a blind eye. Neither should we turn a blind eye because Russia or China object.

One of the reasons why the situation escalated is that Gaddafi thought and still thinks that he could buy everybody's silence. Prolonging the life of the regime even by a week can have tragic consequences. It is in this context it is our interest that our diplomacy actively supports concrete measures which quicken the end of the Gaddafi regime. Those thinking that relations with Libya can ever return back to normal if Gaddafi remains in power in his petty fiefdom are either insensitive or delusional.

James Debono is MaltaToday's chief reporter on environment, planning and land use issues, ...

More from James Debono

•

Malta should help the United Nations in humanitarian aid, but never again should Malta be used as a military base; we are too small, too vulnerable and as history has taught us, after the military action we are the ones having to pay the bill! Sicily is only 2 minutes away for a jet fighter or bomber, its resources infinite and its harbours and airfields numerous. We have only a tiny piece of land to live on whilst Sicily Corsica Crete and Sardegna are veritable countries themselves. However, the Government should NOT forbid those volunteers who want to give a helping hand to this difficult situation. Please think of Malta as a reef, a small rock: in other words think global but act local ( realities and history)!

Peter Cassar •

am no expert of such logistics but in principle i agree that malta should do its part in any humanitarian intervention to protect the civilians from an illegitimate "government" i.e. the fiefdom next to Tripoli. I also think that Malta in its long term interest should recognize the interim government in Benghazi.

•

James, I agree that something needs to be done quickly and it's true that a no-fly zone would be useful and offer some protection to the Libyan people. . You are of course aware that a no-fly zone will have to be enforced so someone - probably the US and perhaps the UK - will have to supply the fighters. I hope you would therefore agree to Malta providing a temporary military base from which USAF and RAF planes could patrol Libyan airspace. . Otherwise it's a case of 'armiamoci e partite'.

Peter Cassar •

@b agius As i said in the article, i support a no fly zone ideally sanctioned by the security council but not necessarily so. We all know that China and Russia could pose obstacles.

Peter Cassar •

I am very critical of US policy which in the not recent past propped up brutal dictatorships in countries like Indonesia, Chile and a large chunk of Arab world first under the pretext of combating communism than islamic fundamentalism...BUT that does not absolve in any way so called anti imperialist regimes (and crazy psychopaths like Mugabe and Gaddafi) from acts of brutality ...the important lesson of all that is happening is that democracy and human rights are intrinsic values which should come before any other interests including the much abused national interest. Even on the left i see a lot of hypocrisy by those who turn a blind eye to authoritarian regimes simply cause they are anti american.

•

Maltipur2, i think you need to make the distinction between the land of the FREE where elected representatives of the people are evaluated after a relatively short period of time and if found wanting "kicked in the arse" and sent home, and the swathes of land of the OPPRESSED where criminals, murderers, ideologically-driven effluvium of nature and assorted "scumbags" reign supreme for decades on end. Certain names come to mind: Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Kim Jong Il, the Russian and Chinese oligarchy, and i could go on.

•

"Pussy footing around" is one way, and yours, to see the "considered" response of the UN. By the same token the UN is always between a rock and a hard place! Damned if they do and damned if they don't. Same with the Americans. Anyway - is James Debono advocating direct action by UN members? If so by which states under the auspices of the UN? Would Malta contribute to such a contingent? Should it, being a close neighbour - or she shouldn't, because of neutrality, but others should? It is not likely that Gaddafi and the few cronies he's still got around him are going to listen to the actions just taken by the UN and , unilaterally, by the USA. It is very difficult to respond in the right doses - if they do most people will condemn them and say "they're after the oil"!! Lets hope the Libyan people can sort this out themselves - they have been very courageous so far.

•

afar3 American imperialism is well known and that is why the USA is the most hated country in the world. Do make a distinction between the Americans as people and their governments who are the international cowboys who sacrifice their own people for their political aims and for the multinationals and their armaments manufacturers to keep them going and piling the billions of dollars in their pockets.

•

Gaddafi has always been a mad dog; and history is littered with such mad dogs, including current ones like Kim Jong Il, Ahmadinejad and Mugabe among others. These characters will go down but not before they take thousands or millions with them. The problem is that the only way to stop them before they do so is Anglo-American "muscle" power but unfortunately there are too many millions of people who are ideologically blinded by their anti-American feelings.

•

Unfortunately, Africa's history is filled with bloodshed, partly because of the former imperialist Western nation who divided Africa between themesleve without a regard to religion, tribe, culture and border. I hope this revolution will bring a new era of freedom of democracy. Really hope so.