Back the Libyans Editorial Arab News

Back the Libyans

The Arab League should authorize military intervention to stop the killing
THE people of Libya are under attack and need protection. Now. Not in a few weeks’ time. By then countless thousands could be dead.
Normally the world looks to the UN to provide the means in such circumstances. But the UN has shown itself divided and ineffectual over Libya. It is not capable of helping — even though it has a unique relationship with the country. Libya is the UN’s baby. It was the first and only state created by it. But even if the UN does decide on sanctions and a no-fly zone, they will not stop the killing. A no-fly zone did not protect the inhabitants of northern and southern Iraq from Saddam Hussein’s henchmen. It is not going to protect the people of eastern Libya from Qaddafi’s. The people of Libya need action now. They need armed protection. That means military intervention.
That has to come, can only come, from other Arab states. The Arab League needs to meet and authorize immediate action. It is the only body that can do it. It has legitimacy and a right to take the decision — in the eyes of the Libyans who are crying out for help, in those of the Arabs and of the world. It cannot be left to the UN to make that decision. Not that it will. There are voices on the UN Security Council that would sabotage any such move. But even if it did decide, who would the UN send? The British or French or NATO forces? That would play straight into Qaddafi’s hands. He would use that to rally the Libyans behind him, claiming the country was being invaded by the West.