Libya and the ghosts of Rwanda and Srebrenica

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.